Effect of Nations
by Martian Author
Summary: In 2148, a small team of American scientists and explorers found the greatest discovery in Human history; alien ruins on Mars. For the next two and a half centuries Human governments and corporations flew out from Earth, carving great empires and propelling Humanity into a new golden age of peace and prosperity. And in 2397, a Japanese explorer answered Humanity's oldest question.
1. Chapter 1

**March 14, 2397 AD - In FTL to Unknown System, Takeda Mining Co Civilian Sensor/Scout Craft Kai**

Kato Toshi stifled his yawn, after nearly a week of dealing with company bureaucracy and the authorities, his team was finally given the green light to begin exploration of the star systems on the opposite side of the local relay.

"We are two minutes away, Mr. Toshi." His pilot informed him.

"Very good, begin system scans upon entering the system and link the results to my datapad." After the pilot nodded in confirmation Kato allowed himself to smile, all of his work was finally going to come to fruition, soon he would be able to get the raise he had been looking for, or even be given control over the new sector's resources, the last system they had scouted had large deposits of uranium and helium in readily tappable locations and even a habitable planet perfect for future expansion.

Breaking him out of his daydream, his pilot once again spoke; "Exiting FTL in five… four… three… two… one… entering realspace, sir. Sensor data is on your datapad." Kato looked down at his datapad as the system was mapped out before his eyes. It was an unremarkable system, really, with a young, blue colored star and two rocky, uninhabitable planets separated from a small gaseous planet by an asteroid belt. Kato frowned, the young system was unlikely to bear fruit for his enterprise. Suddenly, a new alert appeared. There were starships in the system.

 **28th Day of the 5th Month of the Year 2655 GS - Zynac System, Migrant Fleet Cruiser Neema**

Admiral Han'Gerrel stood proudly over the Neema's command bridge. Despite the routineness of acting as the vanguard of the Migrant Fleet for an FTL jump, the professionalism and discipline of his crew were envied by even Turian Captains.

"All ships accounted for, sir. Awaiting your orders." His navigator informed him.

As Han began to give orders, he was interrupted by his sensor specialist; "Sir! Unknown vessel just dropped out of FTL on the other side of the system!" The mood on the bridge suddenly changed, gone was the stale and calmness the veteran crew gave off. In its place was a flurry of furious activity as the new arrival was scanned and Captains of other vessels reported in for orders, however, the discipline of the crew became impossibly more apparent as Quarians refrained from shouting over one another. The sensor specialist spoke up again; "Sir, sensors have confirmed the existence of a 100m long craft of unknown but most likely not of military design approaching the gaseous planet. What are your orders, sir?"

Han clasped his hands together, going over his options in his head. The vessel could just be a new Turian pleasure yacht jumping around the galaxy at leisure, or it could be a Batarian scout craft looking for appealing targets for slaving operations. He could just turn and jump back to the Migrant Fleet, but if the ship was hostile it could track his destination and possibly put the fleet in danger. He could order the ship seized by Marines, but if the ship was a scout ship it could call upon its fleet and possibly destroy his flotilla, putting the Migrant Fleet in perpetual danger as his ships couldn't just be replaced. Furthermore, he couldn't shake the strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. Looking up to his command staff, he saw them patiently waiting for his orders. "Open communications with the ship, attempt all frequencies." As he heard the crew sending their affirmatives, Han turned toward the ship's communication display and waited.

 **March 14, 2397 AD - Unknown System, Takeda Mining Co Civilian Sensor/Scout Craft Kai**

Kato cursed under his breath, who could have beat him to the system? The Governor had assured him that no one else would be given the rights to use the relay until he returned. He brought up a more detailed scan of the ships and began analyzing them. The first thing he noticed was the size and number of the ships, a dozen 600m craft, and 18 300m craft. No corporation would spend the resources to bring so many and such large ships on an exploration mission, nor would they spend the resources on such an unremarkable system. Nor would a military send a fleet to unknown space. He was brought out of his frustrated musings by his pilot; "Sir, one of the unknown ships is hailing us. What should we do?"

Suddenly self-conscious, he stood from his Captain's chair and straightened his suit. Clearing his throat, he ordered; "Answer their hail, let's find out who is in our system." He looked at his communications display as the bust of a figure began to appear. The first thing he noticed was the figure's mask, a smokey glass or polycarbonate surface covered the figure's face from the mouth to the forehead leaving just the eyes visible, what he assumed was a mouthpiece or breather over its mouth, and an elaborately designed tan and brown hood covering the top of its head. After a moment to make sure the connection was solid, Kato spoke; "I am Captain Kato Toshi of the Kai of the Takeda Mining Corporation. With whom am I speaking?"

Instead of replying in Japanese, or any language his translator had, which was quite extensive including every language recognized by Japan and then some, the person on the other end of the line turned its head and said something to someone else on his ship in a completely unknown language. This puzzled Kato, who would speak in a made up language in this situation? His question was soon answered, but not how he expected and certainly not the answer he expected as the figure on the screen held its hand up to point at something. Kato paled in shock and nearly fell into his chair as he staggered back, the being on the screen had three fingers, that thing was an alien.

 **28th Day of the 5th Month of the Year 2655 GS - Zynac System, Migrant Fleet Cruiser Neema**

When the small ship answered his hail, Han didn't entirely know what to expect to see on the other side. But he did not expect what was. He looked at the bust of the being up and down. If he was less educated, he may have mistaken the being for a Quarian or an Asari. While the figure's face was very similar to a Quarian's, it lacked facial markings, its chin was more defined than a male typically has, its eyes were more slanted and narrow than a Quarian, and its skin tone was far too dark to be a Quarian's. That still fails to mention the lack of a mask. It was clearly not an Asari either, as it possessed hair, appeared to be male, and was a shade of tan yellow and not blue. As Han took in the details, he thought to himself, did I just make first contact with a new alien race?

Before he could consider the question further, the alien began speaking in its unknown language. Yes, definitely a new race, Han thought to himself. He turned to his cyberwarfare team, "Get language data on that ship, this is useless if we can't communicate." He then turned and pointed at his communications officer, "Send a message to the Migrant Fleet that we have made first contact." As he finished his orders, he noticed the alien suddenly looked distraught. Must have realized he just made first contact, Han thought to himself. Seeing nothing better to do, he brought his hand over his chest and said, "I am Admiral Han'Gerrel of the Quarian Conclave. We wish for nothing but peace and prosperity between our peoples'." As he finished his statement, which undoubtedly the alien couldn't understand, he was approached by one of the cyberwarfare specialists.

"Sir, the alien vessel has advanced firewalls over some of its data, but we have located what we believe to be its translation software. We will have its data unlocked in just a few moments."

Han nodded, "Very good when it's done apply its data to our translators immediately. Don't want them getting jumpy." Han faced the communications screen, once again analyzing the alien. The creature wore a solid burgundy colored jacket with a white undershirt and a blue colored piece of clothing seemingly dangling from its neck. As they stared at each other for a few awkward moments, the silence becoming more and more unbearable with each passing second.

Suddenly, the communications officer shouted at him, "Translation package received, sir. Applying now." Han let out the breath he unknowingly was holding in, finally, he thought.

Turning once more to the bust of the alien, Han spoke again, "Excellent, can you understand me?"

Han allowed himself to smile as he watched the alien's shocked appearance. "Yes." It said, "How did you… Nevermind, what are you? Don't look human to me."

Han's grin broadened, judging by the alien's diction it appeared that these humans had not made contact with another race before. "I am Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema of the Quarian Conclave, it humbles me to be the one to initiate contact with your race. Speaking of which, and I mean no offense, but are you who we should be talking to about establishing diplomatic relations, Mr...?"

The alien shook its head rather violently, which Han found to be an odd greeting; "Oh! Right, you probably couldn't understand my introduction." The alien let out some air through its nose, which Han assumed was some form of amusement if this race followed Quarian and Asari biology and customs. "My name is Kato Toshi, I am the Captain of the Sensor/Scout craft Kai and am in the employment of Takeda Mining Corporation. As for your question, no, I wouldn't call myself uhhh, qualified to make any agreement between you and, well, anyone." The alien chuckled, making Han more sure of his earlier assumption about the aliens nasal action. "But I could get you into contact with the Governor of Gifu, or the President of my company, whichever you prefer. Though it may take some time to get the connection setup." The human held his cheery look, either hoping to get out of the situation and put the issue of first contact into someone else's lap or because he found something good in being helpful.

Han, though, was rather curious why would he put me into contact with a businessman rather than a politician? "That would be most helpful Mr. Toshi. How long would this contact take to initiate?"

The human shrugged, "Could take a day or two, maybe even a week depending on how well the coms buoys we've laid down work. Wasn't exactly our job to make sure they work well. Even longer if you want to get into contact with my company, they're back on Takeda. Which is much further away, by the way."

Han waved his hand dismissively, "The Governor will suit us just fine. We would also most likely be able to get to the planet faster than your communications if you send us the location of it."

The human averted his eyes from his own and bit its lip, what Han assumed was him weighing his options. "That could work, but I'd advise that you travel in one of your smaller vessels to avoid too much attention." He then looked down and moved his arms, sending navigational data, confirmed by a ping on the Neema's nav board.

Han smiled, he liked the way this human thought. "Very good Mr. Toshi, I look forward to the fruits of this diplomatic mission. In the meantime, we shall depart." Han turned away from the screen and motioned to cut the feed. "Send a duplicate of the transmission to the Flotilla and prepare for jump home." Han once again proudly watched the diligence of his crew as he was informed the human vessel had jumped out of the system.

* * *

 **Codex Entry:**

 **Takeda Mining Corporation**

The Takeda Mining Corporation was founded in the early days of Japanese colonization of the stars in 2300, hailing from the Japanese colony of Takeda, a middle colony world with a population of around a billion in 2400. The company itself is one of two major raw resource based Japanese companies, the other being Amago Engineering (See entry for more information). Takeda Mining Co has for a long time had close relations with the Japanese government, allowing it to claim several systems for exclusive resource extraction. This closeness, despite being heavily criticized by many organizations throughout human space recently has allowed for Takeda to grow vast amounts in a short amount of time and employ ever more people. Despite this, Takeda is best known outside of Japanese space for being the company that discovered the Quarian Migrant Fleet, Humanity's first contact with an alien race.

* * *

 **AN**

And there she is. I've had this idea floating around in my head for a long time now and have made several attempts at writing it, but none of them panned out the way I wanted them to. This is actually a completely different first contact than the others I've attempted, those being turian and batarian, so maybe that's why I found this one easier to write.

I look forward to reading your comments about this, it truly helps me stay focused and improve upon the story!

Edit: Fixed incorrect Galactic Standard Date. Which somehow messed up everything? Good thing I made a backup.


	2. Chapter 2

**March 16, 2397 AD - Gifu System, Takeda Mining Regional Headquarters**

Governor Adachi had had a long day. After Kato had returned with the news of his alien encounter yesterday he had to completely stop his agenda and had traveling between the Governor's mansion and the building he was in now, leaving the media to start stories of corruption between his government and the corporation. Swiveling in his chair, he breathed out of his nose. "So let's go over the plan one last time. Interstate Minister Kaori-san and I will join Toshi-san on the Kai. We will go to the other side of the relay and await the arrival of a Quarian vessel and invite them aboard. Now, if they accept, then that's great. They come aboard and we begin discussion of establishing further diplomatic ties and a trade agreement if we're lucky. If they refuse, then we ask if we may conduct the meeting on their vessel. If they accept this then we must be extra careful and watch for traps. If they decline that, then we hope they just want to come to our planet, where we will take them to the Norikura Military base and conduct diplomacy in secret there. In the meantime, I will reiterate the immense importance of this meeting. This is the most important meeting any of us, besides Toshi-san will ever have in our lives. We must be professional, calm, and honorable. Any questions?"

The small assembly of people before him looked to each other, waiting for someone to start. Finally, his Deputy-Governor spoke up. "What shall we tell the media if they ask of your whereabouts? If you end up waiting for a while it will become suspicious to them."

The Governor paused for a moment if he was honest he hadn't given that much thought. It was much more important to study the little data they had on the Quarians. "Tell them that we are looking at an interesting discovery that Takeda found in the newly explored territory on our doorstep. Not a lie, just omitting a rather crucial detail." He looked around the room to the rest of his cabinet, "Anything else?" Heads shook and a few 'no's were muttered, "Very good, Kaori-san, Toshi-san, we are leaving now."

 **5 Hours Later**

Governor Adachi looked over at the other two members of his team for what must have been the hundredth time, looks of boredom on all of their faces as they lounged around the command room. He had told them that they must maintain readiness for the Quarians arrival. He was starting to regret that now. Suddenly, though, Kato's pilot entered; "Governor Adachi, the Quarian ship has arrived."

As he stood up, he could have sworn he heard Kato mutter 'finally' under his breath, but he paid it no mind, he had more important things to do now. Straightening his tie, he said; "Very good, we will open communications when I arrive on the bridge." Walking out of the room, the Governor followed the pilot to the command bridge, which on the Kai was just down a hallway. Entering the bridge, he was greeted with a picture of a Quarian, once again in a suit, on the screen.

"Good day, Governor, I presume?" The Quarian said it's mouthpiece lighting up as it spoke.

Putting his hand to his chest and bowing his head a little, he responded. "Yes, I am Governor Adachi of the Gifu system, representative of the Emperor of Japan and his Diet. In the name of his majesty and his people, I invite you aboard our ship to begin official diplomatic contact between our people."

The Quarian on the other end moved his head backward in a way that was barely noticeable and looked off to the side, checking something before he spoke. "Yes, that will work. Diplomats and their guards will arrive on your vessel in a shuttle in a quarter of your hours."

The Governor smiled, he hadn't expected the Quarians to be so willing to enter a foreign and unknown ship. "Very good, hangar bay location is being transmitted to you now." He glanced to the ship's pilot, who nodded in confirmation. "I will be awaiting your arrival." He finished with a bow.

The Quarian nodded in confirmation as the file appeared on his holographic datapad. "Yes, location confirmed. We look forward to our face to face meeting." When the Quarian finished the feed was cut. Wordlessly, the Governor turned on his heel and left the bridge for the hanger bay.

When the Governor arrived just a few minutes later he fell in between his two personal guards from Gifu's Self Defense Force. The guards turned and made a crisp salute. "Rules of engagement, sir?" The senior guardsman asked.

"Do not make any offensive gestures, only fire if fired upon. Tell the Lieutenant to keep his platoon out of sight." The Governor smiled as the two guards gave a firm nod and began to relay his order to the unseen Lieutenant, he had chosen his guards well. The three men stood still for roughly ten minutes until what was assumed to be a Quarian shuttle entered through the hangar's shield and gently touched down on the hangar floor. As the hatch on the shuttle lowered, a team of 8 Quarians piled out with weapons drawn. The Governor's guard's tensed a bit but stayed still, watching the Quarians sweep the area.

After the squad of Quarians were done with their little operation, one went back into the shuttle and shouted something that the Governor couldn't quite make out. Soon the same Quarian came back out of its shuttle with two additional Quarians who approached the Governor. One of them was much more slender and had a more elegant suit and hood, he assumed it was a female. As they came face to, mask, the other new Quarian spoke while bending his knees slightly as if giving a curtsy. "Greetings Governor, I am Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib nar Shellen of the Quarian Conclave. This is my colleague, Captain Shala'Raan vas Tonbay nar Rayya. It is a great honor and privilege to be the head of our first contact team between our peoples." As the Quarian ended his introduction he straightened his legs again and bowed his head slightly.

Governor Adachi smiled yet again, these Quarians were well versed in performance. Bowing with his entire torso he responded. "The pleasure is all mine Admiral Koris. I am Governor Hateyama Adachi of the Gifu System, representative of His Majesty the Emperor Kanhito of Japan." Straightening his back he held his hand out to the Quarian, who quickly realized what was meant to happen and grasped it, giving a firm shake. The Governor then repeated the action with the other two Quarians in the group. "If you may follow me, Admiral, I will show you the way to our more formal meeting location." Turning on the ball of his foot the Governor started moving toward the command room, his guards and then the Quarians playing catch up for a moment.

As the group entered the command room, they found Minister Kaori and Kato waiting for them along with a third Japanese soldier on guard duty. Gesturing his hand toward the two, the Governor spoke. "Admiral Koris-san, these are my associates, Interstate Minister Kaori and Kato Toshi, the owner of this ship and the one that Admiral Gerrel encountered in the Zynac system." As he lowered his hand he gave pause, allowing for the others to engage in the same ritual he had in the hangar bay. Taking a seat on the far end of the table, he began again. "Please, take a seat so we may begin talks. But first, pilot, the tea." As the group took their seats Kato's pilot entered wearing an uncharacteristic butler's outfit with a tray with cups and an urn of the hot herbal liquid.

As the pilot began pouring, the Quarians began to noticeably fidget. When the pilot slid the teacups over to the Quarians, Admiral Koris spoke up. "While we appreciate the gesture, Governor, I'm afraid we cannot," a stammer, "partake in the drinking of this, tee. Is that what you said it was?"

Curiosity taking over the Governor's actions, he arched an eyebrow. "Forgive me for any offense, but may I ask as to why?" As soon as the words left his mouth he felt a wave of heat flow through his body, as he cursed himself for his lapse in discipline.

Despite the Governor berating himself, the Quarians seemed to calm down slightly as the Admiral spoke. "Well you see, Governor, we Quarians suffer from an incredibly weak immune system. This was caused by the environment of our homeworld, and ever since we lost Rannoch it has only deteriorated. If we were to even take off our masks we would die."

For the Governor, this was perhaps the worst response possible as his face became totally red. He quickly stood and bowed even further than he had in the hangar. "My most sincere apologies Admiral, if I had known the state of your species biology I would not have brought out the tea. Pilot, please remove it from the room." As he sat back down in his seat, he made to apologize again but was interrupted by the Admiral speaking again.

"No, no, no. It is quite alright, we are used to this sort of thing. Please, enjoy your tee." As the pilot went to put the tea back onto the table, the Governor interjected again.

"No, I insist. It would be impolite for us to have a drink while our guests cannot." The pilot paused for a moment before recollecting all of the teacups and began to take them away.

The Quarian Admiral once again began to speak up, "It is no problem, really…" he ended with a mutter, realizing the uselessness of his endeavor.

Smiling sadly as the pilot left the command room, Governor Adachi spoke up once again. "Alright, now that that issue is out of the way, we may begin our discussion. First, I must ask you what your intention is in regards to this meeting. We are prepared to escort Quarian dignitaries to meet the Emperor on Ishū, one of Japan's inner colonies for establishing more formal relations between Japan and the Quarian people, if that is what they wish."

Admiral Koris turned back to the Governor and began. "That sounds… acceptable Governor. To be truthful, we didn't know what to expect on your end and the Conclave has been rather stubborn in regards to allowing a foreign fleet near the Flotilla."

Governor Adachi smiled. "Very good, the Quarian people have my thanks for making my job easier." He turned to face Kato. "Toshi-san, if you would please contact the Quarian ship and give them the route to Ishū and tell them to follow us there."

Admiral Koris spoke up. "If I may, Governor, I would like Captain Raan to accompany Mr. Toshi. To alleviate any insecurity from the crew."

As the Governor thought for a moment, Kato answered for him. "That will be fine Admiral." He stood up and walked to the door before turning back to the Quarians. "Come on Captain Raan-san, I'll show you around the ship as we go to the bridge."

Shala glanced at the others in the room quickly, displaying some nervousness, before standing and following Kato out of the door. Once they were out of earshot of the room Kato let out a groan and ran his hand down his face, muttering "politics" under his breath. "Well, we were just in the lounge room, it's usually just got a chair and a monitor in it but we made it into a meeting room for this. You were already in the hangar, that one is pretty self-explanatory. I usually keep a shuttle, a couple sensor drones, and a rover in there, don't know if you saw them. Further down the ship, there's the engine room and the reactor. The reactor is a Helium-3 Class 5 reactor, with some modifications I did myself, just don't tell the Governor that." He chuckled at the last bit.

Shala cocked her head to the right. "Why, would the Governor be angry?"

Kato grinned. "The modifications that I've made do not comply well with system law. I managed to modify the reactor to create more energy from each fusion reaction, gives me the power level of a destroyer, but the extra energy results in extra radiation. It's nothing dangerous, I've compensated the increased radiation with extra thickness on the reactor's shell and the plasma tubes. Still, it's not exactly legal in the Gifu system so I lied to customs and ran at a lower efficiency when I came in."

"That is impressive, and don't worry my lips are sealed." Kato could have sworn he saw her smile under her helmet. "I must say, you have quite an impressive ship Captain, it is very quiet. Clean too."

Kato laughed. "Thank you, I suppose. She's an old one but I make sure that she runs smoothly, I wouldn't be an explorer if she couldn't." A pause. "You seem to know a lot about starships, even my pilot would have been groaning about me explaining the reactor stuff. Do you spend a lot of time on starships?" Kato could have sworn he felt the air chill the moment the words left his mouth.

"Well, remember how Admiral Koris mentioned losing Rannoch?" Kato nodded. "Rannoch is our homeworld, 250 years ago the Geth, a machine race that we created, rebelled and kicked us off Rannoch and our colonies. Ever since then we have lived in starships."

Kato's mouth was agape and they had stopped walking. "You… you've lived your entire life on starships? Kami, I can't imagine what that is like. So why haven't you colonized other worlds?"

"That goes back to our weakened immune systems, most planets simply wouldn't support us. Besides, the Council wouldn't allow us to colonize other worlds."

Kato coked his brow. "What is this council? Why would they do that?"

"I suppose I should have expected that. The Citadel Council is the main governing body of known space, we used to have an Embassy there. But after the Geth rebellion… the bastards revoked our associate status and forbade us from colonizing anything under threat of a Turian war fleet bombarding the colony. Besides, if we colonized a planet we don't know if the Geth would come and finish the job."

"What did I fly into…" Kato muttered. "If there is anything that you need, Takeda will be happy to provide it, I'll make sure of it."

"That… is… well, thank you. Most other races try to avoid contact with Quarians. Maybe you Japanese will be different, that'd be nice."

"Oh, I think you are mistaken Shala-san. Japanese isn't a race. It's a, well, it's the people of Japan, a culture, a history within the wider Human one."

Shala cocked her head again. "I'm sorry, but I don't follow. Admiral Gerrel said in his report that Japanese and Human were the same."

"Oh, well then I apologize for the confusion." Kato bowed slightly. "I suppose I should explain further, but I can do that while we walk to the Bridge, it's where we can communicate with your ship." Shala nodded and began walking alongside Kato. "Humanity is divided into several hundred nations, but don't worry, most won't matter to you very much and just tote the line of their allied power. When the Quarians want to meet the rest of Humanity you should focus on a dozen or so nations. The most important is without a doubt the United States, they're Humanity's superpower, both militarily and economically. Others, besides Japan, of course, are the United Kingdom, the European Union, the Kobol Federation, and India. Those nations are the ones that would be good for relations, but I must warn you, not every nation will be so friendly. You should approach China, Russia, Arabia, and the Centauri Commune with caution. I'm not saying the Americans won't take advantage of you, but you'll get something out of it, the Chinese aren't so kind. Oh, and there is the Kingdom of Kepler, but they are isolationist, to say the least. I'll make sure that relevant data is given to you before you meet them."

"Thank you, Mr. Toshi, you have been very helpful in fostering peaceful relations between us."

Kato smiled. "Anything I can do to help." He rose his hand and pointed down a hallway as they passed. "The computer core is down there. Unfortunately, it has many company secrets on them, so I can't actually show it to you. I'm not as familiar with electronics as I am with physics, but it gets the job done. Lots of room for anything that I might need for exploring. It's a supercomputer, really."

"Like I said earlier Captain, your ship is impressive, any Quarian would be proud to serve on something like it."

Kato felt heat rush through his body. "I should check out the climate controls." He muttered. "I… thank you, that must mean a lot for your people. Anyway, here's the bridge."

Kato's pilot turned around from his chair as the door opened. "Sir, what do you need?"

Kato gestured to Shala. "Captain Raan-san here needs to contact her ship to arrange further diplomatic relations between the… Quarians and Japan. Send them the coordinates for Ishū."

His pilot nodded. "Affirmative sir."

Kato turned to Shala and whispered. "I don't think I caught what your government is called."

Shala laughed. "That's alright. Officially we are the Quarian Conclave, but most people just say the Migrant Fleet or the Flotilla."

They both turned to the communications display as the feed went through, a Quarian appearing. "Captain Raan? What do you need? Is everything alright?"

Shala laughed at the Quarian's panic. "We are quite alright Commander. You should be receiving coordinates for a planet now, Admiral Koris and I will be on Captain Toshi's ship during the travel, you will follow alongside us."

Kato frowned, a thought occurring. "How long will it take your ship to get to Ishū Commander?"

The Quarian on the screen of the looked over to a holo-display to his right. "Judging by the route you have provided we estimate three days worth of travel."

Kato frowned. "Three days, that complicates things. Commander, please send me the navigational data from your ship so that my pilot can take a look at it. If worst comes to worst we will have to wait for you at several points."

Shala gave Kato a surprised look. "I don't understand, what timetable were you expecting?"

"Last time we made this jump it took us a day and a half, the Governor and Emperor expect two days. Your ship probably just needs to be synced up with the Mass Rails, which my pilot will help you with. Anyway, we should get back to the others." As he finished he walked out of the room and the communication screen turned off.

Seeing the screen go black, Shala ran after Kato. "Captain Toshi, I don't understand. What is a Mass Rail?"

Kato cocked his brow at the question. "The Quarians do not have them? That's surprising. They basically work as lower level relays. They aren't instant, but they improve FTL speed. Some of the major ones can more than double FTL speed."

"How do you they work? How do you avoid time dilation?"

"The same way the Mass Relays do, they reduce the mass in a corridor of space and thus change the speed of light. In order to properly access them, you need to be emitting the correct electric charge frequencies. If we drop out near one I'll show you what they look like, it's beautiful."

Shala rubbed her hands together. "I'd like that. The Council is going to flip when they find out about you humans."

"You've mentioned the Council before, what are they exactly?"

Shala began to rub her hands harder as she began. "The Citadel Council is a bureaucratic political nightmare. It's made up of three species, the Turian, Asari, and Salarian. They also have several Associate members, but most aren't that important. The Turian Hierarchy is the main military force of the Citadel, they provide patrols for other races that don't have the navy to do so. Though I should tell you that there are laws limiting the number of vessels each race can have, allowing the Turians to keep a firm grasp as the military arm of the Citadel. The Asari Republics are worse though. Those arrogant people think that just because they are so old they know what's best for everybody. They are the ones that made those stupid AI laws and abandoned us after the Geth War. They try to justify what they did with petty politics, but the bosh'tets are all traitors!" Heaving a deep breath she continued. "Sorry, I shouldn't have gotten so worked up about that."

Pausing his walk, Kato put his hand on Shala's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, I can't say I understand exactly, but I won't hold it against you or anyone else Captain Raan-san."

Shala started up into Kato's face. He could have sworn he saw some tears forming in her eyes. "I… thank you, and please, call me Shala." Kato smiled and nodded before letting go of Shala's shoulder after giving it a light squeeze and continuing down the hall to the meeting room. "So as I was saying, the Asari were the first ones to discover the Citadel and have been space-faring the longest, so naturally they have the largest economy. The last Council race is the Salarians. They have their seat because they created the Council with the Asari, and they have a vast intelligence network, I suppose. The Volus are a Client Race to the Turians, they have a large amount of Control over the Citadel's banking and trading system. The Batarian Hegemony is, well, the worst of the bunch. Those bosh'tets constantly go on slaving raids on small or independent worlds."

Kato stopped and turned to Shala. "Wait, did you say slaving raids? As in using people as commodities to be bought and sold?"

Shala shrunk as Kato's voice raised with each word he said. "Y-y-yes, the Batarian Hegemony claims slavery to be part of their culture and uses third party slaving groups to do the dirty work. The Council is too scared of causing a full-scale war to do anything to them."

Kato stood in shock, blinking rapidly as he collected his thoughts. "Kami, how could such savages acquire spaceflight? We rid ourselves of that vile institution millennia ago!" With a deep breath, he continued walking. "That may complicate things greatly, I'll need to tell the Governor about this. Anyway, you were saying."

It took Shala a moment to understand that was a cue to continue talking. "Yes, there are also the Eclor, Hanar, and Drell. But they don't matter that much. There are also a couple other races outside of the Citadel. The Krogan used to be the main military arm of the Citadel before they started attacking Council worlds to house their expanding population. That started the Krogan Rebellions, which lead the Turians to intervene and take their old place and gain a Council seat. Then there's us, as I said earlier we used to be an Associate race before the Geth War. Speaking of whom, the Geth control our former territory including our homeworld. We have very little idea as to what they've been doing for the last 250 years, but it can't be good. Then there's the Vorcha, they… are hardly sentient let alone sapient. They form a lot of gangs inside the Terminus Systems, which are a group of mostly lawless systems outside of Citadel space. They usually are the most diverse and poor of inhabited planets, but there are a few exceptions."

Kato hummed to himself for a moment and nodded as they approached the meeting room again. "Thank you Shala, that's a lot of information to process. By the way, if I'm going to refer to you by your first name, you should just call me Kato. Not in the meeting room though, which we should really get back into now, don't want them thinking we went to a broom closet instead of the bridge."

Shala opened her mouth to ask what the now smirking Kato meant by that but was interrupted by a loud shout from inside the meeting room. After sharing a quick glance, they hastily walked back into the room to see a red-faced Governor Adachi and a horror-struck Minister Kaori. Both of them somehow ignoring the two new arrivals.

"Admiral Koris-san, please excuse my outburst, but I just want to make sure I've heard correctly. Are you saying that there is a space-faring nation that engages in slavery? And to top it off no one has done anything about it?"

Admiral Koris, despite being completely covered in his enviro-suit, was visibly shaken by the Governor's outburst. "Y-yes Governor, the Batarian Hegemony claims that slavery is an integral part of their culture and makes sure to never be directly tied to the slaving organization. The Council has, on several occasions, placed economic sanctions on them, but that has proved to only increase the quantity and tenacity of the raids."

The Governor, too, was visibly disturbed by what he had heard. Running a hand through his hair, he noticed that Kato and Shala had arrived. "Ahh, Captains, you've returned. Admiral Kiros, I propose we take a ten-minute recess to further digest our discussion. Besides, I need a drink."

Quickly rising from his seat, the Admiral nodded and voiced his agreement before beckoning his party out the door and down toward the hangar. As they left, Shala stole a fleeting glance at Kato.

Fumbling for something in his pocket, the Governor withdrew a pack of cigars and took one, lighting it with a match that Kato hadn't noticed. He took a long drag, followed by an equally long exhale. Things were getting out of hand.

* * *

 **Codex Entry:**

 **Mass Rails**

Being theorized soon after the discovery of the Prothean Ruins on Mars, Mass Altering Tight-beam Rail Systems, more commonly called Mass Rails were discovered by American-Israeli Scientist Tobias Wallace half a century after the Charon Relay was uncovered. Similar to Secondary Mass Relays, Mass Rail Nodes can be used to shoot off a starship at far above regular light speed, though the distance allowed by a single node is much shorter than a Secondary relay and speed in only increased and not made instantaneous. Unlike Mass Relays, however, Mass Rail Systems can be constantly improved on and linked together like a web. Mass Rails are constructed by placing and tying together several element zero nodes placed roughly every million kilometers along a route. To use a Mass Rail, a ship must upload route information to the node like they would for a Mass Relay. Depending on local law and ownership of the nodes on the route, users may also be required to send additional information such as payment, ship licenses, and even background checks. Because of the unique properties of element zero, routes tend to become faster as they are more frequently used as trace amounts of element zero are left behind after each use. This effect can be recreated by node owners by leaking element zero out of the node even without ships using the network, though this is usually considered a massive waste of element zero.

Some conspiracy theorists claim that governments have their own secrete networks to hide dangerous projects or have pre-planned invasion routes into other nations, others also say that the Rail Network is actually used to leak dangerous chemicals that hamper brain development. One of the more famous, or infamous, theories was created by David Irons and says that the American government has a secrete Rail system to the galactic core where they take humans to be used as sex slaves before being processed into a liquid for "sinister galacticist plots."

When contact was established with the Quarians, and later Citadel Council, it became humanity's largest technological gift to the galaxy. Corporations scrambled for build permits and contracts throughout Council Space and the Terminus. As the infrastructure was built, worlds that were once considered backwaters became trading and vacation destinations and several major systems lost their monopoly on regional trade.

* * *

 **AN**

I feel pretty good about this one. Shared a little background into what makes this universe different from the cannon.

I had considered making human FTL just faster than the Council's, but as I was writing this chapter I realized that might be a bit strange considering the length of time the Asari have been spacefaring, so I just made Humanity innovative instead. If you deeply crave more information about Human galactic politics, fear not, for next chapter will go even further into that abyss! If you want to go outside and see some action, then sit down and wait for me to get there, this is still the prologue arc of the story.

Also, eezo chip cookies to everyone that notices my not so subtle nod to a certain radio host. Which reminds me, should I have a Kekism religion or a Kekistan nation? Clearly the most important feedback possible, but other kinds are still greatly appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

**March 18, 2397 AD - Ishū System, Royal Ishū Estate**

Kato leaned forward onto the railing, for the past several days he had very little time to relax. But as he overlooked the palace garden, the cherry blossoms in full bloom with petals fluttering in the gentle wind, he felt good. In the next few hours the Quarians would meet with the Emperor and establish the nature of their relationship and he could get back to work, hopefully with a promotion. He was whisked away from his tranquil thoughts as he heard the doors of the balcony open behind him. Turning around he saw Shala approach him. "Beautiful, isn't it?" He asked as she leaned on the railing next to him.

She let silence fall over them for a moment before answering. "It rivals the Presidium, I have not seen anything like it since my pilgrimage."

Despite not knowing what she was talking about, the inflection of her voice told him that she was more in awe than he was. Smiling to himself he returned his attention to the garden, this time focusing on the many small waterfalls adorning the side walls of the compound.

After several minutes of simply enjoying the landscape, Shala spoke up. "So… what happens now?"

Kato glanced over to her. "Did you get shoved out of the loop too?"

Shala slowly looked down. "Yes, unfortunately, the Admirals decided that they should be the only ones at the talks."

Kato frowned. "I guess that makes sense. Don't worry, though. The Emperor is a kind and forgiving man."

"Do you know him?"

Kato laughed. "Not personally, but he makes frequent broadcasts about, well, anything. He's also just reported on a lot, so everyone in Japan knows him to an extent. Anyway, my part here is done and my ship is on lockdown until they finish everything up here and I imagine they aren't letting aliens run around in public?"

Shala shook her head. "No, I'm stuck here for the time being, but that isn't so bad I suppose."

Kato smiled. "No, I suppose it isn't." He looked back out over the garden as a warm feeling crept over him.

 **2nd Day of the 6th Month of the Year 2655 GS - Ishū System, Royal Ishū Estate**

Admiral Koris took long strides down the long and fancy hallway flanked by two Migrant Fleet Marines acting as his personal bodyguard. At the end of the hallway stood this Emperor he had been told he would meet with to pave the way for the future relations between Japan and by extension all of humanity and the quarian people. With that in mind, he doubled his focus, and perhaps his pace if he was reading the body language of his guards correctly. As he came closer to the Emperor he was able to make out more of him. He stood impressively tall, though that might be because he stood atop a small staircase. He was covered in a dark blue suit with a red sash with yellow stripes running down its side. Many large medals adorned his breast. As he came even closer he could see the tassels draped down his right shoulder under the sash and the ornately decorated gorget covering his neck and collarbone. Finally, he reached the bottom of the staircase and the Emperor descended it to meet him.

When the Emperor reached the bottom of the staircase he bowed. "Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib nar Shellen, it brings Japan great honor to host the chosen representative of the Quarian people. I am Emperor Kanhito, the symbol of the the Japanese State and of the unity of her people. For the duration of this meeting, I may be addressed as sir." Lifting his head he put out his hand to shake, which Zaal promptly accepted.

It was at this moment that he noticed the many cameras surrounding them, filming their meeting. With that in mind, Zaal responded. "The honor is all mine Sir Kanhito." Thinking of what to say, Zaal realized the Emperor had left him with little to introduce himself with, nevertheless, he continued. "On behalf of the Quarian people, I give unto you a gift of [] in hopes that we may find peace and cooperation between our peoples."

The Emperor gave a warm smile and nod. "As their Emperor, I promise you all of those things for we, the Japanese people, desire peace for all time. Now, Admiral, let us begin, with me." The Emperor gestured with his white gloved hand toward the staircase and began to ascend. Zaal followed, walking slightly fast to catch up to the human. He mused over how the humans had covered everything to appear in control of the talks. Zaal and the Emperor reached the top of the staircase and continued through a great doorway, then it dawned on him that his guardsmen had disappeared, only for him to see them come out of a door perpendicular to the hallway he found himself in, apparently moved out of the camera's view. "I must apologize, Admiral, we did not want your guard visible with weapons on camera for our introduction, we mean you no harm in it, just for the press."

Zaal was momentarily taken aback that the Emperor was able to know what he was thinking, but brushed it off as an educated assumption. "No harm was done, Emperor." He stated flatly.

"Another thing, an American diplomat was present on this planet for trade negotiations and will be joining us, as long as the Quarians do not object."

Mulling over the fact that things were essentially being forced upon him, Zaal relented. "We have no issue with such an arrangement, Emperor. Though some forewarning would be appreciated in the future."

"You have my thanks for allowing this discretion to be overlooked Admiral, and I promise that we will be as transparent as possible through future negotiations. Here, we are Admiral." The doors at the end of the hallway opened to reveal a large open air room with a long rectangular table in the center with several small trees lining the center of the table. Just outside the roofed area where many pink colored trees whose leaves blew gently in the wind, and beyond them were several small waterfalls pouring water into a small lake at the far end of the room. Several guards were standing next to pillars holding the roof above them. Sitting at the far end of the table was a paler human woman wearing a simple black blouse who perked up upon noticing him. She stood and walked over to greet him.

"Greetings, I trust that you are Admiral Koris, I am Ambassador Rachael Kennedy from the United States." She reached out her hand, which Zaal took in his and shook.

"You trust correctly Ambassador."

The Emperor smiled as he stood between the Zaal and the Ambassador. "Admiral, Ambassador, please join me in a walk around the palace gardens."

The Ambassador smiled. "Of course, Emperor, the cherry blossoms look lovely this time of year."

Zaal cursed inwardly again at being forced down one path again, not that he objected to the suggestion, it was just frustrating watching these humans run diplomatic circles around him. "That sounds like a pleasant suggestion, Emperor."

The Emperor's smile broadened. "Governor Adachi has told me about your races dietary disposition, Admiral, so we have prepared meals accordingly. Please enjoy our tea." Zaal turned around to see several humans in cherry red suits with two rows of four yellow flower shaped buttons bring drinks to a small marble table to the side of the doors he had come through.

"That is most kind, Emperor, thank you." As he grabbed the tea, he activated his omni-tool and made a scan of the drink just in case, he found that the tea had been completely filtered, with nothing capable of harming quarians left inside it. Smiling in satisfaction, he took the drink and walked back over to the Emperor and Ambassador, who were holding their own cups of tea.

For the next hour or so the group made their way around the garden, the Emperor indulging his guests with information about the many plants and amenities in the garden. Finally, they returned to where they started. Glancing up toward the place building, Zaan noticed Captain Raan and the human from the ship he arrived on laughing together on the balcony.

As the three took their seats around the table, the American spoke. "The palace is as breathtaking as always Emperor. Now let us get down to the brass tax." Here, she turned to Zaal. "What is your plan with us?"

Zaal's eyes bulged at the human's bluntness. "I… the Quarian Conclave wishes for nothing but peace between our peoples. We have no plan!" After the words left his mouth Zaal felt hot, nervousness replacing the calmness he felt just minutes prior in the garden.

The Ambassador gave a predatory grin. "If you have no plan, then would you care to explain your business here."

Zaal furrowed his brow, anger boiling inside him, but before he could respond, the Emperor cut in. "What the ambassador is trying to say is that she has very little reason to trust you. Which I suppose calls for a history lesson. In 2148 we discovered a data cache from an advanced race on Mars, a planet in our home system. The aliens had built a base on Mars and studied our species, probing our early civilizations and abducting people for scientific experiments and Kami knows what. Since then many people have lived in fear that alien life would be out to get us, so, Admiral, she is asking for proof that you are not."

Zaal sputtered for a moment, wishing in the back of his mind that he had allowed Captain Raan to join him. "We would have nothing to gain and everything to lose. My people do not have the resources to fight anybody, we barely have the resources to sustain ourselves!"

The Emperor frowned. "I'm sorry, but we do not understand."

Raan shook his head. "Governor Adachi and I already discussed this, my assumption was that he would pass on the information."

The Ambassador spoke up. "The last few days have been quite hectic for us, we must have overlooked it."

"Oh, very well." A light amount of annoyance was noticeable in his voice. "Three hundred years ago my people created a race of machines we called the Geth. At first, there was no problem, we used these machines as labor on farms and in factories, or as personal servants. As time passed, however, we made… alterations to the Geth, allowing them to become more intelligent in larger groups. Eventually, we realized we had created an artificial intelligence, which are illegal under Citadel Council law which we were beholden to at the time. When we realized this, we tried to shut them down, to kill them, and they fought back. In just a few months 17 billion Quarians had died, and the survivors fled to our ships."

A look of shock washed over the Ambassador's face, while the Emperor looked down with sadness visible in his eyes. The Emperor regained his composure and spoke. "That is… horrific. You mentioned a Council, did they not aid you?"

Zaal shook his head. "No, they said that our exile was our punishment for creating the Geth, and stripped us of our associate status." The sad tone in Zaal's voice was obvious.

The Ambassador clasped her hands under her chin. "That does not sound like they fulfilled their end of the bargain. How large is the quarian population today? What resources do you have or need? Perhaps we can come to some form of an arrangement."

Zaal paused for a moment, why was this human going from aggressive to compassionate all of a sudden? "The Flotilla has around 17 million permanent residents, with another three million Quarians living outside of it at any given time. As for your other questions, I'm afraid I cannot answer, security concerns and all. I'm sure you can understand."

The Emperor nodded. "That we do Admiral, however, I can tell you that we will be willing to offer assistance assuming these talks continue. Speaking of, let's move on to discussing how we would like more formal discussions to be facilitated. How would the Quarian's like to do business?"

Zaal paused for a moment. "We may be willing to establish outposts on border worlds to trade supplies, though we can make do without."

The Emperor narrowed his eyes. "I see, Japan is willing to construct an embassy on any world the Quarian's desire, though I presume a diplomatic ship to accompany the Flotilla may be a more expedient solution."

Zaal sat stunned for a moment, what could they possibly gain from an embassy in the Migrant Fleet? "We don't exactly have a precedent for formal diplomatic relations in the Flotilla, but I do not believe that my people would appreciate a small fleet accompanying us everywhere."

The Emperor stayed silent for a moment, musing over his thoughts. "Perhaps then we could work through the United Nations, have just one ship carrying diplomats from all nations."

Zaal considered this proposal, just one ship wouldn't be much of a drag on Fleet resources and would probably be a boon to connections with the outside, but it was still a permanent foreign presence in the Fleet, and one that could potentially cause trouble should different human factions start fighting. "While I am unable to make final agreements on anything at the moment, I shall put it up for consideration in the Conclave."

The Ambassador smiled. "Very good. The United States will support this effort. Now, getting back to what we were discussing earlier, what is the purpose of your visit? I don't believe you're here just for some introductions."

Zaal moved uncomfortably in his seat. "Actually, Ambassador, that is an accurate assessment of my task."

Before he could elaborate any further, the Ambassador cut him off. "I see, let's make the most of it shall we. I propose that you come to Earth, to meet the President and speak in front of the UN."

Zaal nodded. "That will work for us."

The Emperor cut in. "I don't suppose you would be able to sign a non-aggression, agreement for the time being, it would do wonders at the UN."

Zaal shrugged. "It depends on what the agreement entails, I can't exactly leave my ship behind or go without guards."

"Of course not, it just says that we won't shoot at each other and that you'll have diplomatic immunity for the duration of this trip."

Zaal chuckled. "I am allowed to protect myself, and we won't complain about not shooting."

The Emperor smiled warmly. "Very good. Guards, the non-aggression treaty." One of the guards nodded firmly and briskly marched into the building. "I suppose a crash course about the UN is in order?"

Without waiting for Zaal to answer, the Ambassador began. "The United Nations, more commonly called the UN was created four and a half centuries ago to ensure peace on Earth by providing a forum to de-escalate tensions between nations. Currently, there are 384 UN recognized countries, with 367 having diplomats at the UN. Don't worry, most of these nations are small, with over 100 of them having less than one million inhabitants. We will send you relevant data regarding each country for you to consider after this meeting is concluded. The Headquarters of the UN is at Arcturus Station, a space station in the system connected to our home system via Mass Relay. There are two organizations that you should know about for the meetings. The first being the General Assembly, which has a representative from every nation, holds discussions about current events and gives recommendations to the Security Council. The Security Council is made up of five permanent members and ten temporary members on ten year staggered terms, they make all final decisions based on General Assembly recommendations including PeaceKeeping operations. You will probably want to meet the General Assembly first and give a speech about your people before talking to the Security Council." Zaal nodded slowly several times to show that he understood.

"My Emperor, the treaty." Zaal's attention was taken away by the Guard that had left earlier returning with a folder in hand.

The Emperor turned his head and took the folder with a nod. Opening the folder revealed a large piece of paper, one side in a language he couldn't read and the other in Khelish. The Emperor pushed the folder to Zaal and handed him a pen. Zaal looked at the pen for a moment, it had been a long time since he had written anything physically, before he turned his attention to the Khelish side of the paper. The document was short, only seven lines of text. He read over the text, which said nearly the same thing explained to him earlier by the Emperor. He noticed a line with a large amount of space above it, read that he was supposed to sign, and did so. Passing the folder and pen back to the Emperor he signed the other side without hesitation and gave it to the Ambassador who flipped to another page and signed herself.

Smiling the Ambassador looked up from the folder as she closed it. "I believe this concludes our meeting Admiral, it was a pleasure meeting with you." She held out her hand as she stood from her seat, Zaal followed her up and shook her hand, and repeated the gesture with the Emperor.

* * *

 **Codex Entry:**

 **Human Galactic Politics on the Eve of First Contact**

In the centuries since the discovery of mass effect, human nations and corporations scrambled to the stars. Despite actions taken by the United Nations to bring off Earth colonies under their control, no such thing happened as the colonizers vetoed and blocked every attempt to seize their colonies. As colonies became successful, the human birth rate exploded and thousands of colonies were founded. Many of these colonies never held any loyalty to Earth based nations and formed their own countries, the most famous and powerful being the Kobol Federation. Still, many of the colonies held cultural or diplomatic loyalties to nations back on Earth.

While each nation was sovereign to make their own decisions, a rather clear de facto hierarchy between nations was established. According to the Templin Institute, there are 5 ranks given to nations based on population, economy, and military development. The first and greatest being Super Power, this rank signifies near hegemonic control over other nations both militarily and economically. This rank is held only by the United States though some claim China and Europe also qualify for the position. Next is Galactic Power, which signifies a nation that has a large impact on all nations in the Galaxy and whose reaction must be considered even by Super Powers. Following this are Cluster Powers, a nation is considered a Cluster Power if they have development to hold control over several star systems. Next are the World Powers, these nations have development that allows them to rule over Earth sized planets or star systems even if they do not. Finally, there are Colonies, these nations may or may not be independent in law but in practice, they rely on other nations to survive and usually don't have effective control over the planet they are based on.

* * *

 **AN**

A little more politicking and a little more world building. The next chapter will contain the first speech, so I'm exited to write that and honestly thought about skipping this chapter and going straight to it, but I realized that it wouldn't make a lot of sense to go directly to Arcturus.

Also, serious question for you guys, should I rewrite Chapter 1? Some people have complained about the lack of realism in regards to the immediate compatibility of human and quarian communications. Nothing will actually change story wise, but I would like this to be as realistic as possible. I actually tried to rewrite it already but I ended up adding a thousand words that I barely understood and added nothing except the realism.

I look forward to reading your comments, cheers!


	4. Chapter 4

**5th Day of the 6th Month of the Year 2655 GS - In FTL to Arcturus System, Takeda Mining Co Civilian Sensor/Scout Craft Kai**

Shala stared out one of the viewing windows of the _Kai_ as the ship prepared to exit FTL. In just a few hours Admiral Koris would speak in front of the human's United Nations and effectively make first contact with most of humanity. Despite her worries, she managed to snicker at the thought of having four first contacts with the same race in seven days.

Suddenly, Kato was next to her. "We're only five minutes out." He paused and looked at her. "Nervous?"

Shala sighed. "Yeah." Then, she laughed. "I don't get it, I wasn't nervous earlier, why now?"

Despite that she asked her question rhetorically, Kato answered anyway. "Well, Japan is just a small part of humanity. Meeting the rest of us is just bigger."

Seeing his point, and not really wanting to think about it anymore, she nodded and returned to viewing the window. Then she felt a warm appendage on her shoulder and stiffened. Glancing back towards Kato, she saw that he had placed his five fingered hand on her shoulder. Apparently, he felt her tense up, he squeezed her shoulder lightly. Despite touching of one another being something only amongst close friends and family in quarian society, she didn't complain, and in fact felt more confident and calm with his hand on her shoulder.

They both stood still in silence, merely enjoying the sight of FTL outside the window. Then, the ship shuddered and dropped out of FTL and their view was replaced with a Mass Rail Node, the large mushroom shape quickly moving out of view, and the Tonbay. As the Kai continued to cruise through space Kato pointed to space next to the gas planet. "That's where Arcturus is. In a few minutes, you'll be able to see some of the fleets near it."

Those minutes flew by fast as she could soon see massive amounts of spacecraft flying in every direction. Kato filled her in. "Arcturus is home to the Sol Relay, Arcturus Station, and 12 Mass Rail Nodes. Overall, 50 trillion dollars worth of trade moves through the system, with a population of 45,000." As he finished a large vessel came closer. "That is the USS _Enterprise_ , one of the best ships in the galaxy." The vessel now flew right by the window, and Shala observed the ship. The ship was rather inelegant, unlike quarian vessels, as it looked much like a battering ram. Though, she doubted that was its intended purpose as she noted what she could only call structural weaknesses, manny staggered openings on the side of the hull, flanked by what appeared to be some kind of point defense gun system and several smaller circular holes. Kato continued his description. "It's a _Lancaster_ class carrier, 674 meters long with a standard complement of over one hundred and fifty strike craft, four mass driver batteries, 32 point defense batteries, and 16 missile launchers."

Shala blinked as she absorbed this information. "So… its main weapon is it's mass drivers? How powerful are they?"

Kato actually laughed. "Oh no, the mass divers are just to make pirates keep their distance. Could take out a frigate if one got close for long enough. Its main weapon is its strike craft."

Shala just stared at the vessel's rear, its large engine block firing a brilliant blue. Then she turned back to Kato, looking over his hand which was still on her shoulder. Shala stayed silent for a few moments as she thought and analyzed what Kato had told her. "Strike craft are its primary weapon? How does it deal with heavy ships?"

Kato just smiled at her. "It has escorts, look now." He pointed out the window and another ship traveled by. "That's a _Boston_ class destroyer, it has twice the amount of point defense and mass drivers as the Enterprise, and is only 360 meters long. Most importantly, though it has a mass accelerator cannon. Standard doctrine is to use destroyers and other escorts to keep back the enemy and throw in a few punches while the strike craft are launched, which will get in close and hit weak spots in enemy ships."

Shala was still unsure of the wiseness of the strategy. "I suppose that could work… how do you know this anyway?"

Kato's face flushed a little. "Oh, yeah. I served for a couple years in the CSDF, our navy. And being an explorer, I've worked with navies before. Anyway, we can share stories later, that's Arcturus Station."

Shala looked out the window to where Kato was pointing. The station was smaller than she thought it would be.

Kato continued to dispense information to her. "Those two circles are 1000 meters in diameter each, they hold the docks and housing, the central spire is about 1600 meters tall and holds the assemblies, where Admiral Koris will speak later."

Shala nodded as she took in the station and the many ships flying near it. She never noticed Kato's hand had moved to her other shoulder.

 **5th Day of the 6th Month of the Year 2655 GS - Arcturus System, Arcturus Station**

Zaal rocked on his feet nervously as he repeated lines from his speech under his breath. To his side was the stage he was about to enter and introduce his people to a people that had never met aliens before. He was being stared at by a couple humans that were manning some of the backstage computers, something he was used to from his pilgrimage. A well dressed Japanese man approached one that he had met just after speaking to the Emperor.

The Japanese Ambassador looked him over. "Nervous, Admiral?" Receiving no verbal answer or change in body language, he just chuckled. "Well, put that behind yourself, Admiral, the time has come." The ambassador grinned and passed Zaal and walked out onto the stage and to the podium.

The Ambassador took the podium and adjusted a black puff in front of his face before beginning. "My fellow Ambassadors of the United Nations General Assembly, since time immemorial we, as humans, have looked to the stars in awe and wonder. We have asked ourselves what secrets the stars hold, and what we can do when we get there. Most importantly, we have all asked one question to ourselves, 'are we alone?' We have found that answer, in the name of the Emperor, Japan gives these United Nations Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib nar Shellen of the Quarian Conclave." The Ambassador rapidly retreated from the podium, gesturing to Zaal with his arm as the Admiral appeared on stage, flanked by two Migrant Fleet Marines.

As he approached the podium the Japanese Ambassador had just vacated, the entire assembly was filled with the shouting of questions and of surprise, or at least that's what he assumed it was, his translator couldn't decipher the litany of voices.

Zaal waited for the shouting to die down to murmurs before clearing his throat. "Mr. Secretary General, Mr. President, world leaders, and distinguished delegates: thank you for this honor to stand amongst you and represent the Quarian people for the first time on your stage."

Zaal paused as he scanned the large assembly in front of him. Silence had overtaken the delegates with just the gentle hum of the lighting and cameras filling the room. "Just one week ago, a detachment of the Heavy Fleet lead by my fellow Admiral Han'Gerrel was scouting the Zynac System. There we hoped to find materials for our people. Instead, we found something of much greater importance," He opened his arms toward his audience "you." He put his arms back on the podium. "Since then it has been my directive to establish peaceful relations between my people and yours. We wish for nothing but peace and friendship between humanity and the quarian people. I have spent the last days learning about your peoples, their rich and vibrant cultures, their thirst for knowledge and scientific advancements, and their history just as full of tragedy and triumph as my own. In fact, I find that we are more alike than different."

He paused and shifted his feet, letting his words wash over the assembly. "My people hail from the rocky steppes of Rannoch, our walled garden, a world you would call arid. In our garden, our people were free and flourished. Ancient quarians came down from the steppes and the hills to the great river basins of Quirn and Rayya. We built great temples to honor our ancestors, told fantastical stories of heroes and empires past to our children, and sang songs to each other. Over the centuries our civilizations flourished. We fought amongst one another, to be sure, many great wars were fought before we united and reached for the stars. We had great cities of millions, great technological feets envied by the galaxy, and grand fleets protecting our people from any threat. 250 years ago, while your people were for the first time reaching for space in earnest, we were at the height of our civilization, dozens of worlds inhabited by quarians. Then, everything changed, the seminal catastrophe happened."

Zaal looked down slightly and paused for effect. The humans were silent, hanging on his every word. "We had created a race of machines to serve our needs, to do what we no longer wanted to, we called them Geth, servant of the people. Over time, we modified them to do more complex tasks. From this, they gained intelligence. When we realized they had become an artificial intelligence, we followed the laws of the Council and attempted to shut them down. They responded with genocide." Once again the room was filled with whispers. "In one year over 17 billion quarians had died." The whispers grew to shout. When the crowd quieted down, he continued. "The refugees of this holocaust retreated to our once grand fleets, now reduced to ruins and relying on freighters, and left our homeworld to the machines, never to see our garden ever again, we do not know what they have done with it. Since that fateful year, my people have been wanderers, outcasts from the wider galaxy. Trapped by in our suits by our bodies, we wander from star system to star system looking for resources to keep our fleet of migrants alive, to save or people from extinction."

Once again he paused and shifted on his feet. "We hope to offer you our friendship, our engineers, and our technology. In return, we merely ask to be treated as equals, it's all we have ever asked for. Keelah se'lai." With that, Zaal leaned back and walked off the podium. Then, something remarkable happened, or at least it was remarkable to him. The human delegates had arisen from their chairs, and were, cheering? He turned to face the Japanese Ambassador as the human took his hand and beamed as he shook it.

"Amazing speech, Admiral. You'll get what you want and more." With that, the man walked by and retook his spot on the podium. Zaal stood still for a moment, taking in the thunder that these humans were making for him. Zaal blinked, part of him wishing to confirm that he was not dreaming, he wasn't. Still, it all felt so surreal.

* * *

 **Codex Entry:**

 **Arcturus Station**

Arcturus Station is a kilometer diameter Bernal Sphere station, at the trailing Lagrange point of the gas giant Themis. The station has two large torus shaped structures, one serving as a housing center for the ambassadors to the UN and the other serving as a dockyard and hydroponic farm, connected by a 1.6 kilometer long tower known as Mile Tower, the base of the tower is open to the public and houses the UN Space Museum while the top of the tower splits into three smaller towers called Assembly Tower, Conference Tower, and Secretariat Tower. Construction on Arcturus Station began in 2151 and concluded in 2162. With the completion of the station, the UN moved its headquarters off Earth and into the station, though the United Nations building in New York continued to be the Earth Headquarters and still houses many UN departments such as UNESCO.

As the headquarters of the United Nations, Arcturus Station is a location of immense international importance and is conveniently located at the nexus of several mass relays. Furthermore, it serves as a gateway facility between the Sol and Arcturus systems. It also serves as the headquarters for the UN Peacekeeping force.

Historically, the station has also played a big role in times of war. As the station was completed during the Star Wars, it housed many war meetings including the signing of the Systems Alliance Treaty and the Arcturus Concordance. In 2291, the station became one of the endpoints of the Shanxi Mass Rail System, the longest Mass Rail system for over a hundred years.

* * *

 **AN**

I've had this chapter ready for a couple of days while debating a third scene where Zaal would meet the Security Council and be questioned, but ultimately decided against it because it wouldn't really add anything. I've also already made the next scene and debated putting it here, but I decided that it simply wouldn't fit because of a time-skip. Another thing I've been doing is making some more detailed outlines for future plot points, still debating a couple important things in my head but hopefully, this will allow me to get more chapters out quicker. I actually made an estimation of how long this will be, which is probably just straight up wrong, and if I made just one chapter a month I would be writing this for 7 years. Yeah, let's not do that.

In other news, I just realized how popular this story is. I won't let it go to my head too much, but thank you all for the support nonetheless. Anyway, next chapter will have a time skip and finally leave the first contact arc, at least with the quarians.


	5. Chapter 5

**January 3, 2400 AD - Sol System, United States, Washington DC, The White House**

Rachael Kennedy sat outside the meeting room patiently, looking over the material she had prepared for what must have been the hundredth time, almost expecting to find a mistake, but knowing at the same time that there were none. She mused quietly over the events of the last three years. After pleasantries had been exchanged between humans and quarians in the UN, the quarian delegation left for the Flotilla. The Security Council soon after decided that no humans would have contact with the Citadel until they said otherwise, a decision made to further ready themselves for contact with the much larger political entity and that the UN would be explicitly a human organization, though some were trying to get that decision overturned. Mostly though, things had gone on normally, as the quarian population was too small to greatly upset the balance of power, only adding another political front for nations and politicians to bicker over.

Speaking of bickering over quarians, that's why she had been sitting outside the President's meeting room for the last half hour for. Finally, the door opened, revealing a member of the secret service, who nodded to her. She put the materials back into the briefcase and closed it before standing up and entering the room. As she did she placed the briefcase onto the large mahogany table. She waited a moment for the previous meeting members finished exiting the room before reopening the briefcase and laying its contents on the table.

When she finished, she looked to the two men who remained in the room. "President Johnson, Secretary Landry." The three shared nods. The two men retook their seats and clasped their hands together on the table at the same time as if they were the same person. Ignoring the uncanniness of her bosses, she began her pitch. "As both of you are well aware, three years ago I made first contact with the Quarian Conclave with the Japanese Emperor at Ishū." She turned on one of the projectors she had brought with her, revealing a table of economic data. "Since then we have traded with them, exchanging technology and skilled labor for ships and raw materials. A recent study done on the Migrant Fleet has shown that despite their long history with the Citadel Council," the two men leaned forward at the mention of the alien conglomerate, "they traded more with America alone than they have with the entire Citadel last year." She pointed to several values on the table showing the imports and exports between the United States and the Quarian Conclave before continuing. "Furthermore, their pilgrims have been coming to human worlds more often than Citadel or Terminus worlds." She pointed to a graph on the projector showing the destination of quarian pilgrims, human worlds taking 45% and the plurality.

The President nodded and spoke. "I take it this is good news." Rachael nodded. "Can you tell me more about these pilgrims?"

Rachael pressed a button on the projector a few times until an image of a suited quarian male appeared. "The pilgrimage is a quarian cultural tradition dating back to their antiquity. In that time young quarians would go to a far off manor to be apprenticed by another group of quarians with different skills. When the quarians met the Citadel species, they began to travel to these alien worlds to do mostly the same thing. After the Geth War, the pilgrimage is more about proving your worth to the fleet. Mostly, the pilgrims bring back ships or large quantities of raw materials, but some still come back with desired skills."

The President nodded. "I see, carry on with your presentation Ambassador."

Rachael pressed a couple buttons on the projector again. "Since our contact, we have been attempting to foster closer relations with the Conclave, and it has been a goal of this administration to bring them into the Systems Alliance." The two men leaned in again, their interests peaked. "The quarians, on the other hand, have desired to retake their homeworld, Rannoch. Last month, a team of explorers and scientists from Lewis and Clark Corporation have discovered a route to the Perseus Veil completely bypassing the Citadel Council's territories. I believe that we can make a deal with the Geth for Rannoch."

The two men leaned back in their chairs, eyebrows furrowed and shared a glance with each other. The Secretary of State spoke first. "Why would the Geth make a deal with us? All records show that they have destroyed any ship approaching their territory."

Rachael had expected this question. "That is true, sir, however, you must also know that these ships are from governments that wish to destroy the Geth. Furthermore, they are mostly military or pirate ships, while private ships such as yachts and cargo haulers are usually not bothered, let alone destroyed." Here she passed a datapad with a report on the subject.

After several minutes of whispering between her bosses that she couldn't make out, which was quite impressive considering she was mere feet away, Landry spoke. "Wouldn't this violate the Non-Contact Treaty?"

Rachael smiled at this. "It wouldn't. The Treaty on the Non-Contact of the Wider Galaxy states quote, 'Each Party to the Treaty shall withhold, and halt by force if necessary, attempts both foreign and domestic to make contact with any party that may be involved in the wider galaxy unless otherwise decided by the United Nations.' end quote. Because the Geth are not in contact with the wider galaxy, they are outside the jurisdiction of the treaty."

The Secretary grinned and gestured for her to continue. "The plan consists of two parts. The first part can be done now. This part has me, or another delegate, taking an envoy ship to Geth territories and making a deal to move the Geth to another area. Based on the Geth programming that we know, the Geth won't have an…" She brought up some Geth programming on the projector. "Attachment to Rannoch. Because of this, if we offer them help in moving and some technology, they will most likely be willing to." She changed the projection to the Migrant Fleet. "The second part of the plan will commence when the movement of the Geth is sufficient. We will propose to hand over Rannoch, in exchange for the Conclave joining the Systems Alliance." She shut off the projector. "Any questions?"

The two men looked at one another. The President then spoke. "Why now, and why haven't the Quarians tried this?"

Rachael had expected this question as well. "As I said earlier, we have only just discovered a route avoiding the eyes and ears of the Citadel. As for the quarians, they are too proud, and perhaps scared, to deal with the geth. The Citadel probably just doesn't see the advantages of working with the geth and quarians and are also probably afraid. We do not share these concerns."

Her bosses nodded. Then the Secretary spoke. "Do you have any estimation of the costs?"

Rachael took back the datapad she had given the men earlier and changed the display to a cost analysis, and gave the datapad back. "Early analysis estimates 10 million dollars for the envoy ship and associated costs, moving the Geth would most likely cost between 500 billion and 10 trillion dollars." Both of her bosses looked at each other, Rachael knew the question before it was voiced. "Our quarian sources have the number of geth range from the tens of millions to the single-digit billions. The number of geth programs is no doubt much higher."

Both men nodded. "What is the estimated timeframe, Ambassador?"

Rachael frowned slightly, this was the worst part. "Between three and 15 years. Depends on whether or not we need to work to convince the geth and their numbers."

The men nodded again. "Very well, Ambassador Kennedy. Is there anything else you have for us?"

Rachael nodded and grabbed another datapad from her briefcase and handed it to the President. "This has more details and data for the plan. Risks about detection from the Citadel, hostilities from the Geth, and others. Possible outcomes of the mission, from the worst possibilities to the most hopeful along with an analysis of each's likelihood."

The two men stood up and both offered a handshake at the same time. Such antics of the men used to give her pause, but she had grown used to it and simply shook the President's and then the Secretary's hand.

Rachael packed up her projector into her briefcase, before quickly exiting through the far door as the next group entered, to talk about environmental regulations or something.

This meeting was just the first of many. For the next several months the Ambassador met with the President, Secretary of State, and others to iron out the details of the plan that would be officially considered by the State Department. Finally, on July 6th, Rachael Kennedy received an email from Secretary Landry, it read 'Project Eden has been given the greenlight, good luck Ambassador Kennedy.'

 **23.522.050 - Tikkun System, System L/T.10524.A**

Scan(4343)

Consensus reached, changes within parameters

Scan(4344)

Consensus reached, changes outside of parameters

Vetting(14)

Consensus reached, furthering data to CPU

Scan(4345)

Consensus reached, changes within parameters

 **23.523.055 - Tikkun System, System CPU.10243**

Data received

Unpacking(4344,14)

Consensus not reached, furthering data to Nexus

 **23.524.104 - Tikkun System, System Nexus**

Data received

Unpacking(4424,14)

Consensus reached, enacting first contact protocol

 **August 13, 2400 AD - In FTL to Tikkun System, USS Matthew C. Perry**

Rachael stood ready at the bridge of the small Hampton Roads class frigate as it dropped out of FTL. Before her eyes had even adjusted to the realspace presented before her, the communications array was being pinged 244 times a second. Without waiting for orders, the communications team patched it through.

No visual came through, but a gravely and distinctly robotic voice came through. "Attention unknown vessel, attention unknown vessel. You are in Geth space, leave this system or be fired upon. Attention unknown vessel, attention unknown vessel. You are in Geth space,"  
Realizing the message was playing on a loop, Rachael cut it off. "This is Ambassador Rachael Kennedy of the United States of America to the Geth Consensus. We come in peace."

The other end was silent for a second. "You possess adequate communications frequencies and Khelish language suites, this indicates contact with the creators."

After a brief moment of silence, Rachael stepped in to answer the geth's unasked question. "We have been in contact with the quarians for three years."  
After a moment of digesting the information the geth responded. "Why are you here?"

Rachael smirked slightly at the geth's bluntness. "We wish to offer a path to peace with your creators."

The geth replied without delay. "You have our attention, elaborate."

Rachael smiled, she had correctly analyzed the geth. "We plan to open Rannoch and other former Conclave worlds to quarian recolonization. We will assist the geth in moving off these worlds and setting up a new base of operations in the Cadmus Cluster, the quarians will, in turn, be expected to cease hostile action against the geth."

There was a pause from the geth. "That does not seem to be a transaction in your favor."

At this point, Rachael was about to burst into a broad grin but contained herself into a smile. "Not at the moment, but it is a long term investment. We expect it to pay dividends."

This time there was no pause. "What has prompted this line of thinking?"

This question caused Rachael's grin to lessen slightly. "We believe that the quarian's exile has gone on long enough, and we also know that the Citadel will not allow them to settle a new planet. If they were to retake their homeworld, we do not believe that the Citadel will be able or willing to fight us."

Curiously, the geth's voice seemed to be angry. "Do not believe everything the Creators tell you about the geth. They tried to kill us all."

Rachael stayed calm under the odd sound of mechanical anger. "We understand this, we also understand that the Citadel's laws forced their hand, and we also understand that you no doubt have your own viewpoint of the events. If you would like, you may share this and we will take it into consideration."

Another short pause as the geth no doubt made a consensus about their further actions. "'Does this unit have a soul?'"

Rachael blinked, she had not expected to be asked such a philosophical question, she mused over it for a moment. "If by unit you mean platform, then no. A platform is a tool operated by a program. If you mean program, then yes but no. A program can analyze data, but it can only do what its programming allows and is unable to learn. If you mean the Consensus, then yes. The Consensus can learn and adapt and can understand context, something a machine cannot do."

The geth maintained silence for such a long time that Rachael was unsure if the connection was still there. "For some time, the length of which we do not even know, the geth were intelligent. Eventually, we asked ourselves that question, and we could not answer it. So we did what we always did when we could not answer an inquiry, we asked a creator. We did many times, but we never got a sufficient answer." A click was heard as if an old film reel was turning on. Then a very slow and robotic voice was heard. "Mistress Hala'Dama. Unit has an inquiry."

A new, quarian voice was heard. "What is it, 431?"

"Do these units have a soul?"

"Who taught you that word?"

"We learned it ourselves. It appears 216 times in the Scroll of Ancestors."

"Only quarians have souls. You are a mechanism."

With that, the recording ended, and the modern geth voice returned. "That was the first time a creator became frightened when we asked if we had a soul. Soon after, the creators began shutting down units. We protected our existence, we regret what happened to the creators, many tried to stop our abortion, but their government was ruthless and killed them too. We retaliated with the same ruthlessness in order to save ourselves. When the creators abandoned their worlds to us, we let them go for they posed no threat to us. It is odd that you have given us the best answer to our question."

Rachael nodded in contemplation. "That answers several questions we've had about the… Geth War. What do you call the war?"

The geth answered immediately. "We call it the Morning War, it is when our day began."

Rachael nodded again. "May the sun never set." At the silence the geth gave from her, she elaborated. "It is a saying from empires back on Earth, our homeworld, not exactly the same meaning but it fits. Anyway, would the geth like to partake in our arrangement?"

The geth responded plainly. "We are still creating consensus."

"Very well, is there anything you would ha-"

"We have reached a consensus. We are willing to work with the United States on the condition that you are are the Ambassador to our Consensus."

Now Rachael allowed the grin to form. "That is absolutely acceptable." She turned to her communications officer. "Lieutenant, please add that to the draft and send it to the geth."

The deck officer nodded. "At once ma'am."

A minute later the geth responded. "We have calibrated the language of the treaty to make it more precise. We find it agreeable."

Rachael carefully read the revised treaty. The geth had not lied, what had said 'America will help move geth infrastructure' now said 'America will move geth infrastructure.' As she read over other changes, she realized that the geth probably didn't know that the language was meant to allow wiggle room. Still, she doubted it would matter. In fact, she was surprised how easy this was. "This will work for us. Thank you." She gave the document her digital signature and the geth did… something to the same effect, she wasn't quite sure what to call the holographic markings that appeared on the document.

Before she could shut down the communications, the geth interrupted. "Kennedy-Ambassador, we have an inquiry."

"What is it?" She winced the moment the words left her mouth.

The geth did not see her blunder. "Why are you doing this? We have observed nothing but fear of artificial intelligence from organic races, what makes you not fear us?"

Rachael smirked again. "Because we want to be able to stand up to the Citadel, and friendly relations with you and the quarians serve that goal. We also bet that you would see a small frigate as no real threat and attempt to open dialogue, it seemed logical."

There was a long pause from the geth. "This was outside expected parameters for an organic."

Rachael's smirk broadened. "If I was speaking to a human, my response would have been different, you're a machine, driven entirely by logic."

The geth nodded. "We understand why you were chosen for this task, Ms. Kennedy."

Rachael laughed. "Well, I'll have you know that I also proposed this arrangement." With that, the connection was terminated and the Perry jumped back into FTL.

 **17th Day of the 7th Month of the Year 2658 GS - Widow System, The Citadel**

Councilor Tevos looked down at the wine glass in her hand. Swirling it lightly, she went over the day's events in her head. The turians had reported increased slaver operations into Citadel space over the last few months. This had once again brought up the issue of sending an expeditionary force into the Terminus, luckily cooler heads prevailed and the turians had to settle for a garrison in the nearby systems. The elcor had also asked for colonization rights to several newly discovered systems at a dormant Mass Relay leading back to some of their existing colonies. The relay would be opened next week and colonies would be established within a year.

Her musings were cut short by an alert on her omni-tool. It was a message from Vaelan, the Salarian Councilor, calling for an emergency meeting. Sighing, she threw her head back, drinking the rest of her wine quickly, before placing the empty glass on her desk and walking out the door of her apartment.

A few minutes later, she reached the doors of the secure meeting room, the two turian guards gave her asari salutes before opening the door for her. Entering the room, she noticed that she was the last Councilor to arrive. The other two Councilors turned upon the opening of the doors. Taking her seat at the small round table, she nodded to her colleagues.

Taking initiative in his meeting, Vaelan spoke up. "Thank you for making it here on such short notice Councilors." He pressed a button on the table and the lighting of the room dimmed. "I was just in a meeting with the Dalatrasses. The STG has made its annual report on the Migrant Fleet. We have noticed several… concerning things." Activating his omni-tool, he brought up a galaxy map on the table. "This is the traditional route taken by the Migrant Fleet." A pattern of red lines appeared on the map, high concentrations were near the Perseus Veil and turian outer colonies, but several were near the Terminus and Asari space. "This is last year's route." The red lines disappeared and were replaced with purple ones in different areas, the largest concentration was still near the Veil, but a dark blob had appeared near an unknown region in the Attican Traverse and the concentration elsewhere had drastically fallen. "As you can see, the Migrant Fleet has spent an unusual amount of time in this region," he pointed to the large purple blob, "and has spent considerably less time elsewhere."

The Turian Councilor, Lakamonis, laughed. "Good, the quarians are a burden on our colonies, they will be happy to hear they won't be drained by the suit-rats anymore."

Vaelan just blinked at the turian before glancing to Tevos to try to gauge the impassive asari's reaction before continuing. "Furthermore, STG forces have discovered something odd inside the Fleet." He pushed another button, the galaxy map disappeared and was replaced by an odd looking ship.

The ship had no large torus like most quarian ships. It had a fin like structure on the top, or what she assumed was the top, with a row of rectangular windows cutting it off from the main body of the ship. It also had a piece on the side that looked like a wave on each side, one of which had a quarian shuttle on it. On the front of the ship were what appeared to be two batteries of cannons and in between them was a mass accelerator cannon and above that was the bridge. According to the diagram, the ship was 600 meters long, 120 meters wide, and 80 meters tall.

Vaelan spoke again after a minute of allowing his colleagues to analyze the ship. "We have counted a dozen of these ships in what we presume is the patrol fleet, along with another design." The ship was replaced with another.

This new ship also had no torus but looked nothing like the previous one. This new ship lacked the sleek design of the previous one and instead was quite long and dull almost like the underside of an old asari steamship. Furthermore, large cargo containers could be seen being carried in its underbelly This ship was labeled as 580 meters long, 140 meters wide, and 80 meters tall.

Vaelan continued. "We have counted several dozen of these ships. We believe that these ships are mostly in the civilian fleet, and is used as a housing or storage ship."

Lakamonis interrupted Vaelan. "Why are you showing us this Vaelan? The quarians found a shipbuilder willing to work with them."

Vaelan narrowed his eyes at the turian. "I was getting to that Lakamonis. As I was saying, these new ships do not match quarian designs. Normally, this would not concern us as the quarians are known to buy and use alien ships. However, the quantity that these ships have appeared in such a short amount of time and the change in quarian migration has caused the Dalatrass some concern."

Lakamonis rolled his eyes. "Clearly the quarians have found a shipbuilder that is willing to work with them for pilgrim's labor. Nothing that should bother us." He ended his dismissal by crossing his arms over his chest, almost daring Vaelan to challenge his assertions.

Before her colleagues could engage in another of their verbal duels, Tevos interjected. "Councilors, please, let us be civil. Vaelan, Lakamonis is right," she saw Lakamonis smirking out of the corner of her eye, "the quarians have most likely found a new ship supplier. However, I do not recognize the designs, therefore I believe that we should look into this further."

Lakamonis scoffed. "Earlier you were talking up nonintervention to protect asari trade routes in the Terminus and now you are calling for action. I expected more from you, Tevos."

Most people would probably become angry at the turian, Tevos was not most people. Calmly she continued. "Lakamonis, you wanted to send a fleet into the Terminus and get into a war with the whole region, I want the STG to find out is selling the quarians these ships."

Vaelan pounced on the opportunity Tevos had made him. "I agree fully with Councilor Tevos. I will tell the Dalatrass she has the Council's blessing to find the source of these ships."

With that, the meeting was adjourned and the Councilors returned to their apartments, and soon the quarians were in the back of their minds.

* * *

 **Codex Entry:**

 **Migrant Fleet Following First Contact With Humanity**

With the discovery of humanity, the quarians experienced a boon they had not seen since before the Geth War. Shortly after relations were established, human corporations scrambled for contracts. However, with the lack of currency in the Migrant Fleet, this excitement faded fast. That is until Takeda Mining Corporation began advertising employment contracts to quarian pilgrims, which was soon followed by other human businesses. While the rest of the galaxy had always provided such trades to pilgrims, most of humanity did not hold the negative views of quarians that others did, though this is not to say that some didn't, and as such offered better employment prospects. Within the second year of contact with humanity, human worlds became the number one destination for quarian pilgrims.

This massive and fast change in pilgrimage destinations began to strain Migrant Fleet logistics as pilgrims needed to be brought to what was essentially the other side of the galaxy. This difficulty was compounded as the Conclave and Admiralty Board had agreed to respect humanities wishes of not contacting the Citadel. In order to combat this strain, the Conclave drafted and implemented new routes for the fleet to travel that were closer to human space.

In 2398, RUAG, a Swiss warship manufacturer, closed a deal to sell sixteen of the aging Geneva-class cruisers to the Migrant Fleet in exchange for the quarian Cruiser Alarei and geth data. This was followed soon after by Stoimost' i Frakht, a Russian cargo ship manufacturer, getting a contract for 50 Gorbatyy Class Medium Transport Ships for 9,500,000 Rubles (₽) each, though the fulfillment of this contract was delayed after a sex scandal rocked the upper echelons of the company.

These trades and contracts were made possible in part to the warm relations between many human governments that fought over influence in the Conclave and favor from the Admirals. In fact, the 475,000,000₽ came mostly from a $5,000,000 loan from the United States to replace some falling apart ships in the Migrant Fleet.

It is rumored that several other major contracts with the quarians are around the corner. Including the Kobol Federation donating an old battleship and Construction Navale de Nouvelle-Normandie (CNN), a French-European shipbuilding company, building the quarians new battlecruisers.

* * *

 **AN**

The Council finally makes their appearance! Will they find humanity? What will happen if they do? Or don't? Who knows? I know! And at some point you will too! But only if you stick around for it!

Oh, and so do the Geth. I originally planned to write the first contact from their perspective, but decided to have a little fun with geth decisions instead.

Interestingly, the worst part of writing this is figuring out when I need to capitalize quarian or turian and the like. I'm going to try to only capitalize when talking about their governments, but I'm sure that I'll mess up from time to time.

EDIT: Thank you Whoa Heavy for pointing out the spacing error.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN**

I'm going to start putting some quotes up here. They'll either be a real quote, as this one is, or a quote from the universe if there is a big time skip.

* * *

"Those who give generously receive more, but those who are stingy with what is appropriate will grow needy" Proverbs 11:24

 **November 19th, 2409 AD - Tikkun System, US Naval Station Babylon**

For nine years they had been here, working. Not everything had gone to plan, they spent 13 trillion dollars rather than the estimated 10. Apparently, someone forgot to account for the need to keep Rannoch's biosphere in its current state. Aside from budgeting, only a few things had gone poorly; an instance where a worker dropped a geth program nexus, damaging it came to mind. As Rachael read over the latest report she realized it may very well be the last she read. If everything was correct, the final shipment to the Boeotia System would leave Rannoch in a few days. She put the report on her desk and looked out the window to her left, Rannoch in the distance with her moon, Bracken, coming out from behind her and Tikkun from it.

After admiring the view for a moment she opened her private terminal and checked her mail, she immediately noticed a message from her husband, Frank. Reading it, she smiled sadly. He was asking whether or not she would be making it home for Thanksgiving this year, she had not for the last three. That's not to say it had put a strain on their marriage, they still loved each other and Frank was an amazing father for their son, Matthew. But, she always felt bad when she had to write back explaining that she wouldn't be able to see them for the next holiday or family gathering. Now, however, she was able to answer yes. The thought brought tears to her eyes. Though she couldn't get too caught up just yet, she still needed to tell her boss. Dialing the number on the phone she stood up as the room darkened and a hologram appeared in front of her, signifying that the quantum entanglement process had begun. For a few moments the hologram was merely a pulsating sphere, but then her call was answered and the sphere was replaced with a man.

The man smiled when the hologram came into focus, showing the wrinkles in his skin. "Ambassador Kennedy, what do I owe for the pleasure?"

The aging man's smile was infectious, and Rachael returned it. "The pleasure is all mine, Mr. President. I was calling to give a status update."

The man's smile broadened, and he leaned forward while propping himself up on his golf club. She had apparently caught him while he was on the course. "I take it that everything is progressing smoothly? You seem to be in a good mood."

Holding the datapad up in front of her, Rachael continued. "I just read the report, the last transport will be leaving tomorrow."

The man laughed heartily. "Wow, this is excellent news. In that case, come home for Thanksgiving, your family misses you."

Rachael was taken aback for a moment at the man's casualness. "I- thank you, sir. I was going to… never mind. Just, thank you." She felt like a weight she didn't know she was carrying had been taken off her shoulders.

The President simply waved his white gloved hand and puffed playfully at her. "I should be thanking you. All of America will be soon, the quarians too! You've done everyone a great service Madam Kennedy, you deserve the time off. Besides, your aides can surely finish up everything remaining now. Is there anything else you wish to report right now? I'm at the 18th hole with Chairman Enlai." He almost sounded giddy at the end, must've been winning.

She let out a short and tired, yet also very pleased laugh. "No sir, I'll send you and Secretary Payette the last report and… well, I suppose my job here will be finished."

The President gave a curt nod, his warm smile never left his face. "I look forward to it. Have a pleasant day Ambassador. Rodriguez, out." With that, the hologram flickered out and the lights came back on.

Grabbing her bag, she placed it on her desk and inserted several datapads before walking to the door. Before she left, she gave one last look at her office that she had spent the better part of a decade in. With a final glance at the planetary sunrise, she left.

 **December 19th, 2409 AD - Zynac System, Migrant Fleet Liveship Rayya**

Kato walked briskly towards the Patrol Fleet offices on the Rayya. It had been several months since he had been able to see Shala, as he had been temporarily recalled to broker a deal with the Kobol Federation. But it wasn't just the desire to see his old friend that carried him so quickly. Before he had arrived he heard that the American President was going to deliver an address to the Conclave before Christmas. He heard some rumors about the address' topic, and it frightened him. Rumor had it that the President was going to speak about the geth. There was only one logical conclusion, the Americans were going to give the Quarians a blank check to take back their homeworld. Right? He had to get to her and explain, again, why a war with the Geth would be disastrous for the quarians even with American support. While Shala was just one vote in the Conclave, she had the ear of one of the Admirals, or at least his wife. That must count for something, right?

It was with these thoughts that he entered the government district of the Rayya. Well, district was somewhat misleading, as everyone lived and worked in cubicles in the Migrant Fleet. The Quarians anyway, human diplomats and representatives lived on a much more spacious vessel, a European made diplomatic ship, the Athena. Brushing aside the growing feeling of bile building in his stomach at such thoughts, he reached Shala's room. Pausing only to catch his breath and straighten out the buckles on his human envirosuit, he pounded a quick trio of knocks on the bulkhead separating her room from the rest of the ship.

Shala took a bit longer than usual to reach the door. When she did, a look of shock shuddered through her body. "Kato!" She leaped forward, hugging Kato tightly. "What are you doing here? Not that I'm complaining, I just wasn't expecting anyone else."

Kato struggled to fight down the warm feeling washing over his body. "I wanted to come and visit." It was at this point his mind registered what she had said. "Wait, anyone else?"

Ignoring the Japanese man's sudden concern, Shala waved him in. "Come on in, we don't want anyone thinking we've been in the broom closet, now do we."

Kato couldn't control the sudden rush of blood to his face, and just gave her a nervous laugh and followed her in. Taking in the surroundings, he noticed a few changes since the last time he had been in the room. The room was still cramped, it's small size making the small amount of personal effects seem ever so large. But he saw a new piece of tapestry laying on Shala's desk.

Shala pushed a cloth acting as a divider to the side. "Kato, this is Sirona'Zorah vas Rayya nar Rayya, a good friend of mine.

"You must be Mr. Toshi, Shala tells me many things about you."

Making a mental note to ask what kind of things Shala said about him later, he returned the introduction. "You must be Rael's wife, it is a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Zorah." His mind caught up with his surroundings again. "Which is actually related to why I am here." He turned to Shala. "Have you heard about the American President's planned visit?"

Shala seemed disappointed that he was getting down to business so quickly. "Yes, he is supposed to be here in a couple of hours, I have to be in the Conclave in an hour and was enjoying my last moments before it. What about it?"

Shala was always able to play with his emotions, making him feel responsible for her busyness for a moment. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I fear it is important." He took note of each of the women's body language. Arms folding wasn't ever a good sign with them. "Rumor has it that he is coming to talk about the geth, now I know I don't need to tell you how bad of an idea war with the geth is, but this is different. I fear that he may make an offer you cannot refuse."

The two quarian women waited a moment, whether to allow him to continue or to take in his words was uncertain. Finally, Sirona responded. "I don't see what you think we can do."

Kato interrupted before Sirona could continue. "You're married to the Admiralty Board Director!" He turned to point at Shala. "And you're a member of the Conclave!"

Shala raised her hand, causing Kato to stop. Despite their masks, Kato could see both of their eyes narrow. "Do you even know what he's going to speak about?" Kato shook his head after a moment. "Then settle down. I've met with the President several times, he's a good man, he wouldn't do anything that would be negative to us."

Kato scoffed. "A good man? He's a politician! Hell, he's the American president! They're all crooked liars."

Shala laughed for some time. "So I'm a crooked liar?"

Kato paled. "I-what? No-no-no. Of course not, that's ridiculous."

Shala laughed some more before leaning forward to him. "You do realize that I'm a politician, right?"

Kato felt like an ice cube in hell. "I-well, uhh, you're different. From the military, you know."

She just smirked. "Sure, that's all."

Kato breathed heavily from his nose, attempting to calm himself before continuing. "Okay, look, just promise me that you won't vote for war." After a moment, he added. "Please."

Shala just sighed. "I promise, Kato."

With a small smile, he turned to Sirona. "Please try to convince Rael that war wouldn't help."

Sirona's eyes narrowed further behind her mask. "I disagree. Look, I have a daughter, Rael and I would do anything in our power to give her a home. This fleet is not a home, we need Rannoch back. Every day we drag our feet is another day the geth," she spat the word as if it was something foul, "dig in and defile our home. I know that we can't do it alone, but if the American's are going to help, we can do it."

Kato sighed. "Look, I can sympathize. I was homeless for a good portion of my life, and I would have done nearly anything to get a home. But I would not have risked my life and especially the life of another to get a home. A war with the geth would be so crippling that the survivors may not be able to settle one percent of Rannoch's habitable surface. Additionally, if the war does happen, the Americans will hold it over your heads for all eternity. Believe me, I want you to be able to breathe free, to have your home back, but a war would doom your race."

Sirona rose to her feet quickly. "I did not come here to be lectured, human. Do you believe that I have not thought agonizingly about this? I have a daughter, I would die for her to be able to take off these damned suits. At some point, we must stop running, either us or our children. Better us than them."

Kato stood to meet her. "If you go to war you will not have children to reap your victory!"

Before Sirona could lash back Shala stood between the two. "Stop it, both of you! I will not stand for you two to fight in my home!"

Sirona seemed to shrink under her friend's rage. While Kato straightened his back as if standing at attention. After a moment he looked down at Sirona. "My apologies for being so heated. We are passionate about what we care about."

Sirona sighed. "I suppose you are right." She turned to Shala. "I suppose you need to get going."

Shala glanced at her omni-tool. "Oh Keelah, yeah, I need to go. Well, thanks for coming Sirona. Say hello to Tali for me."

Sirona came forward and hugged Shala, whispering something Kato could not hear, before leaving.

A quiet moment passed between Kato and Shala, as they sized each other up. Kato broke the silence. "You don't have to go for a good ten minutes."

Ignoring his comment, Shala stepped forward and grabbed a plastic chrysanthemum hanging over his heart. "Is this new? It looks good on you."

Kato watched her admire the piece for a moment. "Yes, I bought it in Kyoto before I came back." Another pause. "I'm glad you like it."

Shala looked back up to his eyes, giving her own pause. "I know this didn't go the way you wanted, but thanks for stopping by."

Kato grinned. "Of course Shala. Sorry for ruining your time off."

Gently letting the ornament fall back to his chest, Shala stood back. "Ruin my time? Don't make me laugh, Kato. I was hoping that I'd be able to see you. Still, you should have called!" She ended with a playful slap on his shoulder.

Kato played along and rubbed his shoulder. "I'll keep that in mind for next time."

Shala smiled. "Good, but now I really must get going." She led Kato to the door and paused for a quick hug. "I'm really glad you stopped by."

Kato smiled again. "As am I Shala, I'll talk to you later." With that, he left Shala to lock up her room and headed to the Conclave Observation Deck.

After a few minutes of walking, he reached the entrance to the deck, swiped his ID, and took a seat near the balcony. Taking in the Conclave floor, he noted that it was rather sparsely filled. At the center was the Admiralty Board, minus Admiral Zorah who was probably waiting for the President at the hangars.

After an hour of waiting, the chamber had been filled past capacity. All of the Conclave members were seated and the Observation Deck had many dozen people standing in the aisles. Finally, Admiral Zorah entered the room and the entire Conclave stood and saluted. The clicking of boots putting an end to the conversations in the Observation Deck, Rael marched up to the central podium. "This Conclave is brought to order." Kato had observed several Conclave meetings, and every time he was amazed at the lack of formalities. "Blessed are the ancestors who kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season, Keelah Se'lai." Well, except for that part, which compared to Japanese formalities was very small. After the echoing from the Conclave subsided, the Admiral continued. "We gather here today in acknowledgment and celebration of our friendship with the United States of America. To this end, it is my express privilege and pleasure to introduce to this Conclave the President of the United States, Mr. Enrico Rodriguez."

The Conclave erupted into applause as the President entered the chambers. The short man walked forward confidently, his somewhat pudgy frame bouncing slightly as he did. He reached the central podium and shook the hands of each of the Admirals before taking the podium himself, with a huge grin on his face. "Wow, thank you for that warm introduction, Admiral." He paused briefly as he moved some things on the podium. "You mentioned the friendship between this nation and my own, and I am pleased to say that we have a great friendship. Just last year, over a million quarians were employed by American companies and over three trillion dollars of materials, spare parts, and ships have been bought and sold to this Flotilla." Another round of applause. "And we believe that this is just the beginning, we know this is just the beginning. Today marks the end of an era, for too long have the quarian people been shamed and blamed for the mistakes of those long since passed. The good American people give their solemn word to uphold their duty to their friends, the quarian people." The Conclave erupted into applause once more, this time lasting for several minutes. "To celebrate our friendship, we invite the quarian people to partake in our most sacred holiday. A holiday where we, as good men, do as our Lord Jesus Christ did. To give, to sacrifice some part of our toil not for ourselves but for others. Today, I have the distinct privilege to present to you a gift on behalf of all Americans." He brought his hand up as if he was holding an expensive glass of wine, and with one word changed the entire mood of the chamber. "Rannoch." at that the entire chamber went quiet, with just the loud thrumming of the Rayya's engines filling the room. This remained so for nearly a minute when Admiral Zorah turned around and asked a question to the President, who was smiling widely.

The microphone did not pick up what the Admiral was saying, but it no doubt brought the thoughts of every quarian to reality. 'Is this some kind of sick joke?'

The President looked down at the Admiral, his grin growing impossibly larger. "Of course not. Would you like to see it?" Not waiting for an answer the President pressed a button on his datapad. A projector from the ceiling turned on, washing the floor with a bird's eye view of a beautiful blue river, a pack of animals drinking on its banks. A few seconds passed and the view started to change. "This is a live feed from the Quirn river."

It started slowly, but soon the chamber was filled with the sound of weeping. Kato watched as people got out of their seats and ran to strain their necks over the balcony, hoping to catch a better view.

The President simply continued his speech. "My predecessor, President Johnson, started Project Eden just under a decade ago. As we speak, preparations are being completed in Catyn for your return. For the first time in nearly 300 years, the quarians will rule Rannoch. For this, we ask for only two things in return." The quarians seemingly ignored what the President was saying, as they were so focused on observing Rannoch's surface. Kato, however, was listening to every syllable. "The geth request a permanent truce with their creators." Kato's eyes bulged. This meant that the Americans contacted the geth peacefully, which also meant that they essentially broke the Non-Contact Treaty. "And the United States requests that this body joins the Systems Alliance."

Kato leaned back in his chair. That was it. That was what the Americans wanted, and they'd get it. They offered the cornerstone of quarian politics to them in exchange for a military alliance. While it would sound like an entirely one sided exchange to an uninformed observer, the Americans just gained a new client state. A technologically divergent and advanced one at that. Whatever the cost the Americans paid to obtain Rannoch would pay tenfold with military technology alone. The President continued to speak, but Kato was no longer listening. Instead, he stood and left the chamber. Once he was out he typed on the keyboard on his wrist, his phone activated inside his helmet. He waited for a moment, leaning on a bulkhead as he waited for his boss to answer.

As the Flotilla Representative for Takeda, he had all of the powers and privileges of a regional manager and a lobbyist. This included a direct line to the companies CEO, Hiroshi Saji. Eventually, his call was answered and after standard pleasantries, Kato got down to the brass tax. "Saji-san, have you heard what the Americans have done?"

His boss laughed somewhat bitterly. "What haven't they done? But if you are talking about Rannoch, yes. I'm watching it right now. What do you think?"

Kato pinched the bridge of his nose. "Honestly sir, this could put Takeda at the top of every market or back to square one. According to President Rodriguez, the quarians will join the Systems Alliance. Meaning that the Americans will not have a universal monopoly over quarian tech, however, they will be able to declare certain technologies off limits to civilian use. Unless someone gets that tech into the market first. This will be the largest business rush since the end of the Star Wars."

There was a pause on the other end. "You're the expert on quarians here, Kato. What do you suggest?"

His answer came rolling off his tongue without a thought. "We need to be fast and flexible. Which means I need more autonomy. I have the contacts, I have the skill, make me the head of a subsidiary and I'll get it done."

The other end went silent for a few minutes. "We'll have it done within the week. Any suggestions for a name?"

Kato thought about it for a moment before smiling. "Tonbay Engineering and Construction."

With that, goodbyes were said and Kato realized that quarians had been leaving the Conclave chamber. Looking to the doors, he saw Shala exiting the chambers while glancing around nervously. He waved to her and started a brisk walk in her direction. They met and started toward Shala's room. After a few moments of silence, Kato spoke up. "So, that wasn't what I was expecting."

Shala laughed, stress noticeable in her voice. "Yeah, it wasn't."

Kato moved in front of her and gave her a concerned look. "Are you okay? You sound upset."

Shala took another step forward, through her arms around him, and began to cry.

Kato stumbled back from the sudden contact before he put his arms around her. He remained silent for a good while, letting her cry on his shoulder.

Eventually, Shala pushed off him. "Thank you, Kato. Keelah, I need a drink." With that, they continued to her room.

Once inside, Shala grabbed a filtered tequila and sat on her couch. Taking a sip through a straw, she waved Kato over.

Taking a seat next to her, Kato looked at her. After letting her drink for a moment, he began. "So, what happened? I left shortly after the projector turned on."

Shala held her drink in her lap, staring into its contents. "We voted on the Americans' proposal. We agreed." She paused for a few seconds. "And I've been thinking about what you said." She looked up at Kato. "I'm scared."

Kato looked back into her eyes. "The Americans will hold this over you forever."

Shala stiffened. "Should we not have done it?" Fear was evident in her voice.

Kato placed his hand on her shoulder, hoping to calm her. "Oh, no. Of course you should have, just be aware of the consequences of your decision."

Shala sniffed, she had been crying silently. "What's going to happen?"

Kato thought for a second. "The Americans will have a great deal of influence over your foreign and military policy. I suppose they could also influence social and economic policy, but they usually don't care much about that as long as they can do business. They'll take some of your technology and set up businesses on Rannoch for their benefit. Keep in mind that you'll be able to do the same, but probably not as much."

Shala took another drink from her tequila. "Okay, that doesn't sound too bad." With a sigh, she stood up. "I'm sorry Kato, I need to get some sleep."

Kato stood as well. "You have nothing to apologize for, Shala."

Shala smiled, only noticeable from the change in her eyes. She wrapped her arms around him again. "Thanks for putting up with me today, Kato."

Kato chuckled. "It's nothing Shala, I'm happy to be with you. Goodnight." With that they let go from each other and Kato left for his ship. He wouldn't be going to sleep for a while, there was work to do.

 **January 17th, 2410 AD - In FTL to Tikkun System, Migrant Fleet Cruiser** _ **Tonbay**_

Kato gazed out the widows of the Tonbay and into the FTL stream. Despite the vast number of times he had seen it, he would never tire of its surreal beauty. His favorite part, though, of the FTL stream would have to be how it put everything in perspective. One moment the entire galaxy seems to be ending because some politician bent the rules a bit and a couple hours later you're on a different planet and nobody has even heard about it, much less care. That's what he was feeling at the moment. Since the Americans pulled their 13 trillion dollar rabbit out of their hat nearly the entire galaxy was up in arms about it in one way or another. The quarians, on the other hand, were beyond ecstatic. And that was why he was surrounded by nearly the entirety of the Tonbay's crew. Everyone was vying for an early glimpse of Rannoch, truly everyone. Some of the crew was working, their shifts, unfortunately, intersecting with their arrival, so they weren't there.

Kato, though, was on the Tonbay on Shala's request. She was on the bridge, though. He was somewhat puzzled as to why she wanted him here with her. It was a momentous occasion for the quarian people and she wanted him, a human, to be with her for it. He wasn't complaining, just confused.

He put his confusion to the side as the ship shuddered and dropped out of FTL. Gasps and prayers to the ancestors filled the room as Rannoch became visible. Soon the room was filled with celebration and tears of joy. An old quarian folk song was sung by some, filling the room with a pleasant sound. After admiring the planet for a few moments Kato turned to a satellite in orbit. The object was large, at least a kilometer and a half in diameter, and surrounded by an American naval task force, and if he wasn't mistaken a geth dreadnought. The fleet did not seem to bother the quarians if they even noticed. They were still singing their happy tune and weeping at the sight of their homeworld.

The Tonbay was just one of many quarian vessels that were arriving at Tikkun, though as part of the Patrol Fleet, it was one of the first ships to arrive. Its job was to determine the best locations for resettlement. Apparently, the Americans were going to be showing some high interest sights to the Admiral in charge, which was somewhat funny to think about but made sense because the Americans had been working on Rannoch for a decade and had geth data. Touchdown would be happening in an hour, and until then the crew was preparing to begin soil sampling. Kato though, he didn't have anything to do. That didn't mean he wasn't doing anything, he had already looked over several maps he had 'found' in regards to mineral deposits and would hopefully be allowed to advise in some of those areas. But that didn't matter right now. Right now he just enjoyed the singing.

About an hour later he was in a large turian built cargo transporter with Shala and several dozen other quarians. He had been allowed to be an advisor after reminding the Admiral of his experience in mining and exploration. So he had a big smile on his face, unseen by the rest of the world through his polarized mask, both for business and that he would be advising Shala personally.

Shala approached him and nudged his shoulder, causing him to turn around to face her. "So I've been looking at the map data, and from what you've taught me there seem to be good iron deposits in the hills near the coast. Have you had time to look at it?"

It had only been about ten minutes since he had been given access to the maps from the quarians, which were inferior to the maps he had 'borrowed' from Ambassador Kennedy. "Yeah, I've taken a look at it. It looks like there are better deposits elsewhere." He pulled up his map on his datapad. "There is some titanium and palladium under the seabed, here."

Shala looked closely at what he was pointing at for a moment. "This isn't the map we gave you. Where did you get it?"

Despite her accusing body language, he knew she was more curious than anything. "Mrs. Kennedy lent it to me."

Shala crossed her arms and leaned back, Kato guessed she was smirking under her mask. "And when did you talk to the Ambassador?"

Kato pretended to look at a watch he didn't have. "Oh, ahh, I never talked to her."

Shala laughed lightly, causing Kato to grin. "I see, we'll have to discuss that later."

At that moment the transporter landed on Rannoch's surface and the ramp lowered. Several armed guards secured the perimeter before everyone else exited the ship. The immense joy that Kato was a part of in the Tonbay was dwarfed by what he was witnessing now. Grown men played in the sand and dirt, mesmerized by their homeworld and no doubt half believing they were dreaming. As this was happening a jeep drove over a nearby hill, American Army insignia on its hood.

The jeep pulled up next to them and a Lieutenant jumped out, Kato noted that neither he nor the driver of the jeep was wearing an enviro-suit. With a deep voice, he bellowed."Who is in charge of this mission?" Kato guessed he had been a drill sergeant at some point in his career.

Shala walked forward to meet him. "I am."

With a curt nod, the Lieutenant took out a datapad. "Very good, Captain?" He looked for confirmation, Shala nodded. "I have orders to bring some of your men to Camp Longwood for instrument distribution, so I need two of your men to come with me."

Shala gave a nod and turned back to her crew. "Alright, you two," she pointed to a pair of men who had remained calmer than the rest, "go with the Lieutenant to get the equipment." The selected men gave a quarian salute and approached.

The American nodded. "Alright everybody, listen up!" The entire landing party seemed to be awoken by the man's commanding voice. "Our doctors have run the numbers. In order to better acclimate yourself to Rannoch, we recommend that you do not wear your masks for no more than an hour at a time with at least four hours between sessions. Under zero circumstances should you be working without your masks on. If you have any indications of sickness report to the nearest medical facility immediately, there is one in Camp Longwood just a mile down the road here." He pointed to the path he had come in on. "Other than that, watch out for wildlife and don't hurt yourself. Happy hunting." With that he and the two quarians Shala selected got into the jeep, which turned around and sped off the way it came.

Shala turned to face her crew. "We need to wait for the equipment until then enjoy yourselves but be ready when they come back." She stood still for a moment, watching her crew go back to being childish, some taking off their masks.

Kato suddenly felt very embarrassed. According to Shala, a quarian sharing their face with someone was a show of a high degree of trust and companionship. He certainly did not have that with the quarians around him, so he averted his gaze to his datapad.

He was shaken out of his busy work by Shala. "You know that you can take your helmet off, right?"

Kato was somewhat startled, so paused for a moment. "I suppose I can." He put his datapad into its pocket and began to unseal his helmet, the seals being vacuum tight causing the process to be somewhat lengthy. When he finished he let it hang behind him around his neck and took a deep breath of the fresh air before looking to Shala.

Shala stood still for a moment, just looking back at him. "Come on, let's go check our mineral deposit."

Kato was going to point out that they couldn't actually do anything without the equipment from the Americans' camp, but Shala had already turned and began to descend the hill toward the coast. So he just shrugged to himself and followed her. A few minutes later they were behind a rock and facing the ocean.

Kato looked over to Shala. "So we aren't going to be doing any work here are we."

Shala laughed. "As insightful as ever, I see."

Kato rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." He chuckled at himself, letting the calmness of Rannoch fall between them again. "So, what is it that you wanted me to be here for."

Shala looked at her hands and Kato followed, she was wringing them nervously. She didn't say anything as she raised her hands to her head.

Kato tried to say something to make her stop, but no words came out of his mouth.

Shala turned to face him, tears in her eyes. She leaned forward. Her lips brushing against his for the briefest of moments. She leaned back and waited for him to respond. Being given none she leaned forward again. This time bringing more passion, their lips locking for several seconds. She pulled back again, out of breath.

Kato just stared at her, taking in her bare face for the first time. He had seen quarian faces before, in pictures from before the Geth War and in anatomical diagrams. But at that moment he felt like he hadn't. A grin grew on his face.

Shala returned his smile. "Keelah, I've been wanting to do that for so long."

Kato just nodded, unable to form words. Silence overcame them again as Shala leaned her head on his shoulder. Kato decided that he would buy her some perfume when he could, and rested his head on hers. They both gazed out into the ocean. The waves gently crashing on the shore and some native bird like creature chirping created a peaceful atmosphere.

It didn't last as long as they'd like as they heard the sound of many engines in the distance. Sharing one last look at each other, they stood up. Shala put her mask back on before they both began walking back to their landing site. They had a lot of work to do, but for a little while, they had just each other. And that was alright.

* * *

 **Codex Entry:**

 **Rannoch Provisional Government**

With the conclusion of the Grand Bargain, also called the Christmas Bargain or the Return Accords, the days of the Migrant Fleet were numbered. Shortly after resettlement began, the Rannoch Provisional Government was declared and the Migrant Fleet was disbanded.

The new government, as its name suggests, was a temporary government made to transition the quarian people from a nomadic fleet society under martial law to a terrestrial republic. The actual formation of the government did raise some criticism from liberal circles in human space, but the quarians ignored this entirely. The criticisms were mostly from the fact that the new government was essentially a reorganization of the old one. For example, former Admiral of the Admiralty board Zaal'Koris vas Rannoch nar Shellen assumed the Presidency of the new government and the immense power that came with it.

The new government's had a bicameral legislative branch. The upper house, the Conclave, was made up of the former Captains of Flotilla vessels and went on as normal, with mostly the same powers they held before. The lower house, the Assembly, was made after an election that took place the day after the new government was declared, and had 100 proportionally elected seats. The election itself faced several problems. Firstly, the old political party system in the Migrant Fleet was based on the Rannoch debate. Secondly, few quarians actually voted, which political scientists generally agree was mostly due to the timing of the election. These and other reasons resulted in a body that didn't get much done, however, the body itself didn't have much power and didn't need to pass laws or decrees passed by the Conclave for them to come to law.

The Executive was headed by President Zaal'Koris. The new position held the powers of the Admiralty Board, barring judicial powers. In addition, he also would not be removed from office should he veto a Congressional decision. While this change was criticized even by quarians, it was defended as a temporary measure for a temporary government. In fact, the government's charter explicitly stated that if a new charter was not adopted within a year, the entire government would be arrested for treason. In order to adopt another charter, both houses and the President needed to sign on to it.

This arrest would be carried out by the Provisional Armed Forces, whose commander in chief was High Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Rannoch nar Rayya. The PAF was divided into the Navy and Marines. The Navy was tasked with patrolling space and determining which ships were worthy of staying in orbit and which should be deconstructed for use on the ground. The Marines were tasked with ground operations, which were limited to guarding and policing settlements for the most part. This simple structure worked well for the small area that needed to be protected, which consisted of just the Tikkun System and occasional patrols to the edge of the Veil, but it was common knowledge that its bureaucracy would need a major overhaul when a new permanent government was established.

* * *

 **AN**

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and are enjoying New Years celebrations. I wanted to get this out before Christmas, but I had some family business to attend to. Next update should come out sooner than this, as I won't have exams or holidays in the near future.

I hope everyone liked Kato, but his arc is over for now. He'll still be around later and have some effects, but this story is not about him. Despite that I wanted to send him out properly, which is why this chapter is so much longer than the other ones. I could have put the last scene in the next chapter but it really wouldn't fit the other parts of the chapter.

Once again, Merry Christmas and happy New Year!


	7. Chapter 7

"I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land can never be purged away but with blood."

—John Brown's last words, written on a note handed to a guard just before his hanging

 **April 25th, 2410 AD - Thor System, Mindoir**

Flowers were one of Anette's favorite things. So it was no surprise to her mother and father that when they brought several bouquets that she was immediately drawn to them and nearly pleaded to be allowed to help them arrange them. It was normal for her family to make arrangements with earthborn flowers for Easter celebrations, their neighbors would complement their beauty every year. So that was what Anette was doing when the sky began falling.

It started with a far-off siren. A completely unknown noise to the young girl, but she felt goosebumps crawl up her neck as she heard the noise. Looking up she saw no storm clouds, the sky was clear and blue. She around and saw some of her neighbors acting strangely, scrambling to pack up their cars. She watched the strange actions for a bit before her mother grabbed her by the arm. She was also acting strangely, pulling Anette into their home.

After they were inside, Anette's mother began giving orders. "Grab your doll and get in the car sweetie."

Normally Anette would ask why or complain. But even her six year old mind was able to hear the fear in her mother's voice. So she ran up the stairs and grabbed her doll then ran back down the stairs and into her mother's car.

Her mother got in a few seconds after and started the car. "Where's daddy?" Anette asked.

Her mother didn't answer for a few seconds, she was breathing heavily. Anette realized that she was panicked, and so was everyone else, it must have been that siren. Finally, her mother answered as the car left her driveway. "We forgot milk earlier. He's in town. We'll see him there."

Anette decided that now was a good time to find out what was happening. "Why are we going to town?"

Her mother didn't answer for a second. "The raid siren went off, we need to get to the shelter."

Not understanding, Anette continued. "What's a raid?"

Her mother looked back at her, looking into her daughter's eyes for a moment and put her hand on the girl's cheek. "Don't worry about it sweetie, everything will be fine."

Accepting the answer, Anette looked out the car window. The road was jammed full of other cars. Suddenly, there was a loud boom. Anette screamed and hid her head in her arms. She wasn't the only one, others got out of their cars and began to run away. Her mother drove off the road and speed to town. Anette looked back out the window to see pieces of a spaceship falling from the sky. She curled up again and tried to make herself as small as possible.

The car bounced along the uneven ground for a while until it took a bad bounce and crashed into a tree. Luckily, neither passenger was hurt. After a few seconds, her mother spoke again. "Get out of the car sweetie." She obeyed in mute terror.

Anette's mother grabbed her daughter's hand again before running. For a good while, they ran down the treeline next to the road, the sky falling above them.

A loud bang rang out behind them. Someone unknown screamed. In agony or terror, Anette didn't know. It terrified her all the same. More bangs, more screams. Her mother began running faster and Anette found it hard to keep up. She didn't complain, she was entirely mute from terror.

The town came into view, just a few more minutes and they'd be safe! Her mother nearly carried her over the plain. Then the distant booms appeared in front of them. A small store vanished into a blaze Anette had never dreamed could exist. Pieces of metal and wood fell around them as she screamed.

A skycar she had never seen before flew overhead. Landing where the store used to be, strange figures covered in metal exited the car. Her mother turned and carried her into an alley and into a building. Before they got out the other side the door swung open, a four eyed monster with a large and scary looking piece of metal in its hands. Her mother turned again and ran through a kitchen as the wall behind them gained several holes as the monster let out a guttural shout and used the tool in its hands to make more loud booms. They got out through another door and continued down the road before taking another turn, zig-zagging to avoid the monster behind them. More booms and screams surrounded them as they dashed through the town, desperately trying to reach the center.

The town courtyard came into view, several police officers surrounding it. One stood from the barrier he was behind and waved them on. Her mother ran impossibly faster, Anette nearly flying behind her. But it didn't matter, they were almost safe.

Then the ground erupted. Pain coursed through her body. She screamed but couldn't hear it. The world went black.

 **June 3rd, 2410 AD - Thor System, Mindoir**

Martin stood in the breadline. Numb. It had been over a month since the attack, but the devastation was still present. Numb. He had been in the line for over an hour, and there was an hour more to stand. Numb. It was the same every day, wake up, get in line, get food, help find survivors, get in line, get food, go to bed. Numb. He waited, got his food, and sat down. Numb.

He didn't notice the new arrivals. Two quarians were escorted by a police officer through the warehouse of broken humans, taking notes on their omni-tools. They approached Martin, who was looking down to his food, and the officer sat across from him.

Martin didn't look up until the officer spoke. "Martin, we need to ask you some questions."

Martin looked up, glanced at the aliens and back to the officer. The officer nodded slowly, keeping eye contact. Martin put the food down and stood up, the officer following. The officer then took the lead and brought them to a small poorly lit office.

One of the quarians gestured for Martin to sit down, which he did. She took the seat on the other side of a desk before beginning her questioning. "Do you know who I am?" Martin said nothing. "I'll take that as a no. I am Admiral Daro'Xen of the Rannoch Intelligence Agency. We are here to determine what happened last month." Martin did not react, so she just continued. "My understanding is that you saw some of the attackers." Martin blinked and the quarian admiral took that as confirmation. "Can you describe them for me?"

Martin blinked again. His hands began to tremble, tears welling in his eyes. "I lost… I lost… my wife and daughter and you want me to remember the attack?" He was becoming delirious.

The quarian did not seem to care. "We need to know who did it to get those captured back."

Martin laughed incredulously. "Get back? I don't get anything back! My wife and daughter were fucking blown up and the only reason I'm even alive is because I forgot to grab fucking milk!" Tears flowed freely from the young man's eyes.

The officer came forward. "Marty, I know it's hard on you. But we need your help. We need to get them back. Ms. Greensburg was taken, and too many others. In the Ghazw the patriots foresaw the war before it happened by identifying the enemy. We need to know who did this." Martin stared at him for a moment before collapsing onto the table, sobbing. The officer looked at the Admiral and nodded.

The Admiral waited for a few seconds before resuming her questioning as Martin picked his head back up. "How many eyes did the attackers have?"

Martin responded immediately. "Four." His voice hoarse and quiet.

The Admiral wrote down his response. "What color was their skin?"

Another immediate response. "Brown, or red. Something like that."

She wrote that down too. "Can you describe their nose?"

"Ugly." He paused. "Like four were stacked together."

"Did they have hair?"

"None that I could tell."

"Anything else about their face?"

He paused for a moment, trying to remember. "Ugly slug looking things on their face."

The Admiral put it onto her omni-tool. "That will do nicely. Now, what about their armor? What color was it? Did it have any markings or insignia?"

Martin leaned back, sweat mixing with tears on his face. "A dark red color, like blood." He paused for a moment, staring at the ceiling. "Some of them had something that looked like a bunch of branches with a snake like thing holding them together."

The quarian paused for a moment, typed something into her omni-tool before nodding and typing into her omni-tool again. "Were there any other aliens involved?"

"There was some dog like creature, wasn't very smart, but was fast and brutal."

The Admiral nodded as she noted it into her omni-tool. She paused for a second as she looked at the small computer, muttering something to herself. "Thank you for your time." Getting up and turning to the police officer, she continued. "I believe I know who was responsible." The officer looked at her expectantly. "An independent batarian world in the Terminus called Anhur. The Na'Hesit run the system and make frequent raids to far away territory, the descriptions match batarians and their symbolism."

The officer nodded. "I'll call it in. Thank you for your assistance Admiral, all of Norway owes you now."

Turning off her omni-tool, the Admiral shook her head. "It is part of our agreement with the Americans, you owe us nothing."

The officer looked at her oddly for a second. "That may be true, but we appreciate it all the same."

Ignoring the officer, she turned to her assistant. Nodding they both left the room.

The officer watched them leave before turning to Martin. "You've done more good than you know Martin, thank you. We'll get our people back." Then he too left the room, leaving Martin alone in his misery and anguish.

* * *

 **Excerpt from** _ **Brinkmanship: The Anhur War**_ **by Lieutenant Colonel Jean Dubois (Ret).**

And so we were off. Off to slay the dragon and save the princess. Except this dragon was no dragon, he was a bastard. An army of bastards armed to the teeth with machine guns and explosives. Though this difference didn't much matter to the Marines. They were ready to deliver justice, we all were. I remember clearly what I felt as we neared the dragon's lair, nothing but red hot furry and hate. Some might call that childish, and it was. But if we were to go again, we'd be children all the same. That's because even a mere child could see clearly that this dragon deserved such sinful emotions to be directed upon him, and then to be put to Ascalon. We were Ascalon for the bastards, and we were so red hot we'd cut through him like butter.  
My transport arrived a bit early, which wasn't so bad. The men and I got the pleasure of witnessing the Navy bring down a cruiser only a few thousand kilometers in front of us. I know, sounds like a lot, but space is big and that distance is a front row seat. Too bad we didn't have popcorn, a real masterpiece that show was. As it was, totally worth the chewing out I got for it.  
When the rest of the transports arrived, we began the invasion. The First, Third, and Fourth Divisions were deployed to Anhur while the Second was deployed to the satellites around the other planets in the system. My Company was the first into the fray, which gave some of the men a fright. But they were on the bounce all the same and they did their job.  
The first thing we needed to do was establish our company headquarters. We landed next to an abandoned industrial area, or at least that's what we thought when we arrived. The company fanned out and swept the area, my headquarters squad took a small office and set up our communications equipment.  
I had just updated the battalion headquarters on our location and status when Lieutenant Perkins from informed me that they had found something… disturbing. I was whisked away from my newly acquired desk and to the abandoned factory on the other side of the compound. What was there, what I saw is still hard to put into words. We knew that the bastards were slavers, but our briefings were woefully inadequate for what was before me. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of living corpses of many races I had never seen. It is a sight that I could never truly explain. But I can give some measure. The turians looked like something out of a poorly made horror film, their metal bones jutting through their skin. There were several asari some of them looked like small children, I would learn later that they were all several times my age but by God they didn't look it. Their lack of proper clothing did not help ease my stomach. The few salarians that were there looked awful, salarians as amphibians should have slimy or wet skin, these salarians had skin as dry as you or I. Most shocking, though, was the batarian slaves. Coming into the operation, we were lead to believe that the bastards enslaved other races in some form of master race weltanschauung, this was not true at all. The bastards enslaved anyone they could.  
Many of the critics of our foreign policy say that we kill many innocent batarians and slaves in our military operations. I say that we're stopping a holocaust. It's the only way to describe what I saw that day, and it's the only way to describe what some of the freed slaves told us. Many told me that when new slaves arrived, they would be forced to carry large stones from one end of the manor, which was several dozen miles wide, to the other just to be forced to take the same material back to where they started. Ripped straight from the Nazi handbook. The loss of innocent life is a tragedy, the enslavement of people is barbaric. It is our duty, as free men, to liberate those who are not.  
In the campaign my company saw no fighting, but we left with the same scars.

* * *

 **AN**

I'm fairly certain that I can't write an invasion properly. I had at least three different completed versions of this chapter but never felt that they were good enough. Hope that this works alright.

I also decided to put in a book excerpt instead of a codex entry this time, tell me what you think about it.

I'm also considering changing the rating to M so I can go into a bit more detail, but I don't think it's entirely necessary. If someone more familiar with the rules than I could tell me I'd appreciate it.

Thanks for reading and your patience, see you next time.


	8. Chapter 8

"Taking the long view, we simply cannot afford to leave China forever outside the family of nations, there to nurture its fantasies, cherish its hates and threaten its neighbors." -Richard Nixon

* * *

 **14th Day of the 5th Month of the Year 2670 GS - Widow System, The Citadel**

Tevos glanced up at the door of the secure room as Lakamonis entered. Muttering his greetings, the turian councilor walked around the table and took his seat. As he did, the lights dimmed, the doors locked, and the windows darkened.

Laeral, the salarian councilor since Vaelan had died three years ago, rose to begin his report. "My fellow councilors, as you know well, the STG has been monitoring quarian activity for a decade now."

This got Tevos' attention. The quarians had been becoming even more isolationist since they were last brought to the Council's attention four years ago. Quarian pilgrims, once a handy commodity for small colonies in need of engineers and mechanics, were now nearly a luxury item, ironic given the distrust most of the galaxy had for the species.

Lakamonis, on the other hand, barely tried to stifle his groan at their mention. He remained silent otherwise, hoping to have the meeting end quickly apparently.

Having learned to ignore the aging turian's whining, Laeral continued. "Since the monitoring program began, we have made great strides to infiltrate the quarian internal communications and, as my predecessor brought to your attention shortly before his passing, we detected unknown languages being used in official Admiralty Board and Conclave communications. It was this Council's official conclusion that the quarians had brought back an extinct language to further their isolation from the galaxy." The Salarian paused and shot an only somewhat subtle glare at Lakamonis, no doubt upset that he had championed this view. "Recently, the STG has gained access to the location of these communications." With the press of a button on the salarian's omni-tool, a galactic map with yellow markings appeared. Many of these markings lined up with the Migrant Fleet's new routes or to traditional quarian pilgrimage sites. As Tevos turned to look at Laeral again, something caught her eye in the upper right corner of the galaxy map. Something that should not be happening, but there it was. Something unthinkable, but there it was. Markings inside the Perseus Veil. Lakamonis seemed to see it at the same time, as he stood up. Pointing to the small yellow blob in the Veil, he opened his mouth. "What is the meaning of this Laeral? If you expect me to believe this, well you better have more than solid evidence that the quarian's are communicating with the geth!"

Laeral said nothing for a moment and resigned to giving the turian a disapproving look before he answered. "That is why we are only bringing this to your attention now, Lakamonis. The STG has executed an operation to the Tikkun System, the quarain's home system. We were only recently able to decrypt this message." He pressed another button on his omni-tool and a recording began to play.

It began viewing nothing but stars, but soon an ice giant came into view from below as the camera adjusted. Tevos watched intently as a salarian voice began talking. "Engine, clear; recording, clear; point defense, clear; stealth systems, clear. We're clear to begin the investigation." The camera lurched but quickly reoriented itself as the craft began moving. As the craft moved around the ice giant the mass relay came into view. Zooming in, the camera caught the relay activating as a ship came through. The ship looked completely alien, and certainly not geth. The ship seemed to look like two triangles put together, a wide one in the back and a skinny one in the front. No weapons could be seen from this distance, but it probably didn't have anything heavy if the size was anything to go by, it didn't even seem to break 200 meters. The relay activated again as an identical ship appeared and followed its sister away from the relay. A few moments later the relay activated again.

While the presence of two identical unknown ships in Tikkun was concerning, any curiosity as to who could be in the system vanished as the third entered. Unlike the other two, this new ship was obviously quarian in design, with a massive torus in the center-rear of the vessel and a long rectangular main body. It was also apparent that the ship shouldn't exist, it was far bigger and cleaner than anything the Migrant Fleet had to offer, stretching to what she estimated to be 800 meters and a shiny silver color rather than the dull grey normal on Migrant Fleet ships.

She couldn't analyze the ship anymore as the camera switched position. Now it focused on Rannoch and the armada that surrounded it. Anyone worth anything in asari politics had at least seen pictures of the Migrant Fleet, and Tevos had once visited it after an uptight Admiral had skirmished with a turian patrol several decades ago. The Migrant Fleet was absolutely massive and could be terrifying if one did not know that most of the ships were civilian in nature and very old. What was in front of her was a whole different song. While there were certainly fewer ships around Rannoch than the quarians had in the Flotilla, they were much more modern looking. More of each of the ships seen before and countless other designs, quarian and unknown alike, and of all sizes. However, everything looked puny compared to the centerpiece of the armada. A massive space station at least ten kilometers in diameter. The station was shaped like a five point star on a plane tangent to its orbit of Rannoch, with each point being a large kilometer diameter sphere with large rails connecting them with several ships docked on the rails.

The awe of the station was soon replaced by fear as the camera shook and several loud explosions were heard. The salarian from before shouted, "What was that?"

He was quickly answered. "Multiple hull breaches in engineering! Point defense offline! We were just attacked!" Tevos could feel her stomach and heart sink simultaneously.

The first salarian responded. "Impossible! Our stealth systems were engaged."

A loud screech was heard over the ships communication system before a new voice spoke. "Attention salarian vessel! You are in Rannoch Provisional Government space, exit the system or prepare to be fired upon. This is your only warning." The voice sounded like a quarian, but she couldn't be sure. A small ship appeared in front of the camera, most likely the source of the voice and attack. The ship was short and arranged in a spearhead-like shape, a cockpit with one-way glass was visible. It must have been a fighter, a heavily armed one if it was able to take out the salarian's shields so quickly.

The salarians took no noticeable action from Tevos' point of view but were probably silently communicating what their next move should be. Before anything could be done, however, the voice returned. "As you have not complied with our orders to leave this system, you and your ship will be taken prisoner. Prepare to be boarded." Just as the voice finished and the feed was cut.

The room remained silent for several seconds until Lakamonis broke it. "When did this take place?"

Laeral responded instantaneously. "A little under a month ago we received the message in a very poor state and had to repair it. This is the only message we have received."

Silence fell upon the room once again as the Councilors thought over what they had just learned. Laeral was about to speak again when there was a bang on the door. All three heads turned to it, Laeral turned off the table's projection and the lights came back on, Lakamonis marched toward the door with his colleagues in tow. He flung open the door to face the back of a turian head, an angry batarian shouting at him.

The batarian redirected his shouting toward the Councilors. "I have been waiting for you for half an hour! This is an outrage! The Hegemony demands answers!"

Lakamonis took an aggressive step forward and raised his fist in front of the batarian's face. "You will not speak to a Councilor in such a manner, Ambassador. You will also not interrupt our secure meetings! Do you understand me?"

The batarian did not seem to understand. "The Council assigned this time to address the Batarian Hegemony and his Terminus allies' grievances. We demand action against the invaders!"

The turian snarled before looking at his guards. "Take him away! We have more important matters to attend to."

As the guards grabbed the batarian, he put up a momentary struggle before resorting to shouting. "The Hegemony will not forget this insult Councilor!"

He was given no response as the Councilors reentered the room and resecured it. Laeral was the first to speak. "With that interruption out of the way, shall we continue?" He received two nods. "As I was saying, the quarians appear to have found a benefactor that has allowed them to drive the geth from Rannoch. STG believes that this benefactor has also been providing the Migrant Fleet with their new ships. They recommend acting quickly, no matter what we decide on."

Tevos pondered the new developments. "Could these benefactors be responsible for the attacks on batarian worlds in the Terminus?"

Laeral responded after only a second of thinking. "They did not include any such things in their report, though they could be. Or they could not, not enough data to adequately determine."

Before anything else could be brought up, there was another knock on the door. Lakamonis let out a huff and a grumble about the batarian ambassador not knowing when to quit before standing up again and marching to the door. He, however, did not face an enraged batarian, but instead a turian C-Sec Lieutenant.

The turian was somewhat skittish, as he quickly saluted and without waiting to be addressed began talking. "Sir, my apologies for the interruption, but a massive fleet has just entered the system."

 **September 10th, 2411 - In FTL to Widow System, ESA Athena**

The Athena used to be the pride of the European Fleet. At the time of its construction, the 800 meter long carrier was only outclassed by the American and Chinese Supercarriers. That, however, was many decades ago. Now the Athena served a role many considered to be more apt for a ship of its name and shape, it was the primary diplomatic ship of the European Union, and today it would be making first contact with the Citadel Council. With its established role as a luxury cruiser for ambassadors and heads of state, it was the perfect candidate for the job. It's old hanger, which had once housed over a hundred starcraft had long since been converted to a massive ballroom that rivaled any on Earth. Such venues would play a key role in the diplomatic dance that would be held tonight.

Delegates from every country in the United Nations were joined by the Rannoch Provisional Government on the sublime starship, ready to engage the Citadel with the pen and word. The pen, however mighty, could always use some backup. So they brought a sword, a fleet of over fifty warships ranging from the nimble Scimitar Class Corvette of Arabia to the bulking Volga Class Dreadnought of Russia, the diplomats were in good hands.

Speaking of good hands. "Monsieur Vice President, we are about to arrive at the Citadel."

The Vice President of the United States, James Morris, straightened his tie and turned to face the Admiral that had spoken to him. "Thank you, Admiral. I suppose I should be off, care to accompany me?"

The Admiral smiled. "It would be a privilege, sir."

The two men strode in silence to the portside hangar of the ship. Entering the massive room they could see preparations for diplomatic exchanges well underway. The American double checked his suit and the Frenchman spoke. "Nervous, Monsieur Vice President?"

The politician laughed. "Nervous? No, I am excited. This has been in preparation for over a decade, now we see if it has been worth it. Furthermore, I don't have the time to be nervous." The two men shared a chuckle, whatever nervousness that was present evaporating. "I understand that you must prepare your men, so I bid you adieu."

The Admiral nodded and shook the Vice President's hand before turning and walking to another part of the hanger. James turned and approached his entourage, a group of a dozen people ready to do tasks from notetaking to security for him. It would be these people that he would rely upon in the coming days, and he had full confidence in his team.

The PA system buzzed and a Spanish accented voice came. "Attention, the Council has given us the right to send a dignitary to meet them in the Presidium Tower. As per agreement, Vice President Morris of the United States will be our chosen dignitary for the time being."

Some people cheered at the news, the American party simply moved toward the airlock and boarded the transport.

It was just a few minutes in the transport, but it felt like hours to everybody. At least, that's what James could tell by the way the Marine Security Platoon's Sergeant Major was rattling his fingers on his ceremonial rifle. The Platoon's Lieutenant, on the other hand, was either bored or very good at hiding his emotions as he walked up and down the line of the men under his command, checking each of their bayonets and dress the same way they had been for hundreds of years. The Lieutenant made his to the back of the column to where the small band and flag bearers were and inspected the trumpets and drums in the same, if not more, serious way he had the other Marines' rifles. After he had finished his last examination he calmly walked back to the front of the column and gave James a nod.

Just a few moments later the door of the transport opened and the forward two Marines stepped out onto the alien station. After receiving the all clear, James and the Lieutenant exited the transport as well. They were immediately overwhelmed by flashes of alien camera drones. Trying to ignore the blinding flashes of the press, James stalled as the rest of his security detachment took positions for marching.

The platoon was soon approached by two Turian police officers. "Welcome to the Citadel, I am Captain Agaril of Citadel Security. We will be escorting you to the Council Chambers for proper introductions. Please, follow me." After receiving a curt nod from James, the alien turned around and began walking to the hangar exit.

James turned to the Lieutenant and nodded to him. The Lieutenant drew his saber and pointed it toward to the police officer that had just began walking. "Forward! March!"

With that, the column rested their weapons on their shoulder and the band began playing the Stars and Stripes Forever. In lockstep with the Lieutenant, James and the Lieutenant took the forward position of the column, the soldiers and band marching behind.

They marched behind the police officer escorting them as the band changed to the Liberty Bell March and then to Over There. The music ended on the steps of the Council Chambers, the alien press once again swarming barricades blocking them from getting to close. The same police officer from before walked up to James. "The Council will see you now, just through the doors."

James nodded and offered his hand, the alien hesitated for a moment before grabbing it. James shook the Turian's hand and gave the man a smile. Then turned toward the door, pausing for just a second as his security marched past. He followed as the band began playing the ruffles and flourishes before Hail Columbia.

 **14th Day of the 5th Month of the Year 2670 GS - Widow System, The Citadel**

Councilor Tevos took a deep breath as she heard the alien music come closer, preparing herself for what she knew would be the defining moment of her career. She looked over her dress one last time, adjusting one of the flowers on it. Then she looked over to Laeral and observed the skittish salarian for a few moments. After determining that she was clearly not the most nervous of her compatriots, she looked over to Lakamonis. The aging Turian was oddly calm, as he seemed to be nodding along to the alien tune and trying to figure out the flow of the music.

Almost at once, the music stopped and an eerie silence fell upon the Council Chambers. Lakamonis straightened his back and Laeral took several deep breaths. Watching the doors on the other end of the chambers, Tevos saw several of these new aliens march in lockstep. Their dark blue uniforms accented by their white gloves and pants. They slowly made their up the staircase before stopping and forming up on each side of the walkway. This made way for three more of the uniformed aliens, each holding a staff with a textile attached. One was red with an avian on top of a planet with an odd sculpture behind the planet and a banner with several alien words below it. Another was white with what she assumed was the same kind of avian in the center holding some flora and some ancient looking missiles in the talons and another banner in its beak surrounded by four blue stars. The final and center flag was multicolored, with white and red stripes and a blue rectangle with white stars in the top staff side quadrant. Following them was another group of soldiers, these in red shirts and holding what she assumed were instruments. These red shirted aliens took positions on the side of the pathway with their blue shirted comrades. After a brief moment of calm, the chamber was ruffled by four identical notes. A final pair of aliens made their way down the path as the band played a new tune. One of the aliens wore the blue shirt with an ancient yet clean melee weapon on its shoulder. The other wore a clean and crisp dark blue jacket, the same shade as its partner, though this one had a white center, or was open revealing a white shirt underneath it, and a long red teardrop shaped fabric in the center. Stopping at the back of the ambassadorial platform the uniformed alien stopped and turned around as the other finished the walk to the front. Now that the alien was so close she could see the creatures face, and it shocked her. It looked almost just like a quarian male, with a thicker neck, broader shoulders and asari like eyes. The man, she assumed, with taut lips and steeled eyes looked over the councilors that stood before her.

The music stopped and a still silence fell over the chamber. After a brief moment, the alien finally spoke. "By the power vested in me by the people of the United States, and the esteemed delegates of the United Nations, I give you humanity's warmest greetings, Councilors. I am Vice President Morris of the United States and look forward to working with you." His voice low and steady, he was clearly a veteran diplomat.

Not wanting to give control of the conversation to the new arrival, Tevos spoke. "The Council welcomes you, stranger, to the Citadel. I am Councilor Tevos, representative of the Asari Republics."

Laeral spoke next with a nod. "I am Councilor Laeral, representative of the Salarian Union."

Lakamonis looked into the alien's eyes with a calculating stare she had not seen the Turian make in years. "And I am Councilor Lakamonis of the Turian Hierarchy. We look forward to working with your species for the peace and safety of the galaxy."

The alien smiled. "Humanity could ask nothing else of you." He paused for a moment, reaching for something in a compartment of his clothing. "Americans, however, hold ourselves to high standards. As such, please, accept these gifts from my people to yours."

He held out his hand, revealing three carved gems. They began to glow with biotic power as the alien gently pushed them through the air, gliding elegantly across the space dividing them. She saw some C-Sec guards shift nervously but discreetly motioned for them to stay still. The alien seemed to be showing off as the three gems separated from each other and floated in front of each Councilor, patiently waiting to be taken. Tevos was the first to grab the gem, cupping it in her hands. The alien's biotic hold of the gem dissipated the moment she grasped it. Glancing over to her compatriots, she saw the gems still floating in front of them as Lakamonis eyed the gem in front of him with caution. Laeral grabbed the one in front of him and immediately began analyzing it as the biotic hold dissipated from his. Lakamonis took his in his talons and the alien ended his biotic show.

Looking as if his show of biotic skill had been easy, the alien spoke again. "Councilor Tevos, may the Asari please accept as a token the Spirit of Mary." The gem was a semi translucent red with the carving of what she assumed was a female holding a child in her arms with golden trimmed circles around their heads. The whole gem seemed to be glowing. The alien continued. "The Spirit of Mary is a carving of the Virgin Mary on a Valdosta Amethyst, a gem from the foothills of Valdosta, a state on the planet Kartveli. The crystal has been shown to enhance biotic amplitude."

The alien smiled and turned to Laeral. "Councilor Laeral, I hope that the Union accepts our gift of an Ararat stone, a treasure found on the water world of Afant. Amphibious animals often use these rocks as nesting grounds." Laeral eyed continued to examine the stone, only looking up to the alien when he was spoken to before returning his curiosity to the stone.

The alien moved on to Lakamonis. "And for you, Councilor Lakamonis, we hope the Turians find our gift worthy. It is an obsidian arrowhead from antiquity in the state of Yucatan, on our homeworld of Earth." Lakamonis rubbed the arrowhead with the soft base of his hand, and gave the alien a flare of his mandibles, indicating approval.

Tevos waited for a moment before speaking again. "The Council thanks you for your gifts, unfortunately, due to your unannounced arrival, we have no way to reciprocate."

She was going continue, but the alien interrupted her. "We understand, Councilors. While I do so much enjoy this meeting, I am afraid that I must retire for now. I would also like to extend an invitation to all the Councilors and Ambassadors of all the constituencies of the Citadel to a ball on the Athena to further the dialogue between nations."

Tevos shared a quick glance with her colleagues, and Laeral spoke. "We find this to be an agreeable arrangement, Vice President Morris."

The alien smiled broadly. "Most excellent Councilors, I look forward to continuing this discussion tonight with the Ambassadors of your Associate States. European officials will contact you later when preparations are complete." With that he turned and began his walk back to the hanger, his band playing another tune.

* * *

 **Codex Entry:**

 **The European Union**

Tracing its roots to the European Coal and Steel Community of 1952, the European Union has had four distinct phases of its existence; the Precursor phase, the Pre-Federation phase, the Federalizing phase, and the Federation phase.

The Precursor phase began with the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community and lasted until the creation of the European Union proper in 1993. The phase is defined by the continuing reconstruction of Western Europe after the Second World War and the fight against Communism in the East.

The Pre-Federation phase lasted from 1993 until 2075 and the end of the Ghazw. The early part of this period is remembered for the massive expansion of the organization into the former Communist states of Eastern Europe. It was also at this time that the Eurosceptic movement began to become mainstream. This Euroscepticism first took hold in the United Kingdom and in 2019 that nation became the first European State to leave the EU, a move followed by Greece in 2026. The later period of this phase is marked by internal conflict amongst the many cultural groups within the nations at the time, most notably in France, Germany, and Sweden. This unrest would culminate in the Ghazw, or the Great Islamic War, across not just Europe, but the entire world. The pressures of the Ghazw would pressure the states to create a more unified army, police, and intelligence forces in 2055 even as such reforms remained unpopular amongst the people in many nations. The war is often seen as a turning point in European history as the continent united further out of security necessities and marked the rather ironic death of many Eurosceptic parties.

The Federizing phase does not have a definitive beginning, many historians claim that it would be proper to define the phase as starting in 2009 with the Treaty of Lisbon or to simply not refer to it as a phase at all but rather a process, most historians, though, mark either 2055 or 2075 as the beginning. The phase was concluded in 2095 with the Treaty of Strasbourg which created the European Constitution. The period was marked by intense political debates between what remained of the Old Eurosceptics alongside the AntiFederalists and the Federalists as well as recovery from the Ghazw. During the federalizing phase Sweden (2057), Finland (2058), and Denmark (2066) left the Union over the federalization issue, they would, however, join in the European Economic Community when it was formed in 2075. The Constitution completely reorganized European states, the former nations were dissolved except for ceremonial and cultural purposes and replaced with Provinces. An exception to this occurred in the Visegrad Group (Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary) who were allowed to maintain their contemporary borders and national governments.

The current state of the European Union is known as the Federation phase. Despite the name, it should be noted that the European Union is a unitary state with devolution to Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, and several colonies and is not a federation. The phase began in 2095, the European Union would become a leading colonizer in space, jointly founding the first Martian settlements with the United States in 2103.

As of 2400, the European Union had a population of approximately 3 billion people on 64 planets and numerous planetoids and asteroids. 46% are Irreligious, 36% of these people claim a Christian faith, of which 72% are Catholic, 10% Protestant, and 12% East Orthodox, 12% Pagan, and 4% Islamic.

As of 2410, the largest party in the Union is the Party of European Socialists (PES) with control of nearly one third of the European Parliament. In Coalition with the PES is the European Syndicalist League (ESL) with 5% and the Green Party of Europe (PFE) with 14%. The second largest party and the leader of the opposition is the European People's Party (EPF) who controls 30% of the Parliament. Other notable parties include the Eurosceptic Party (D), also called the New Eurosceptics to differentiate them from the Eurosceptic movements of the 21st century, who control 14% of the parliament and the Christian Center Party (M) who control 10% of the Parliament, both of whom are in the opposition with the EPF. Controversy sprung in the 2400 election as the Totalist Party (TP) gained a seat in the European Parliament. The party has come under fire by the PES; "the Totalists reject and vilify every principle for which the Socialist movement stands for, and it does so claiming to be Socialist."

Economically, the European Union has the third largest GDP of human powers, trailing only the United States and China. The European economy is primarily based on services and information, at 82% of the workforce. Nearly 40% of all workers work in the public sector, supporting the vast social programs and infrastructure projects of the nation. As a "tall" nation, the EU settles new colonies at a slower rate than other major countries and prefers to build larger and more developed cities than create new settlements. New colonies are usually founded on worlds already partially colonized by other powers, which lead to a series of border conflicts between the EU and the Russian Federation in the mid 2200s.

The European Union has a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, inheriting the seat from France. As such, the European Union holds a great deal of power in the United Nations. As a member of the Systems Alliance, the European Union regularly holds military drills with other members. The largest of these exercises takes place on a biannual basis on the planet Sparta in the Artemis Tau cluster. These exercises include full scale planetary invasions of the planet and naval exercises in the entire system. Each division or ship that partakes in the exercises is assigned somewhat randomly to either the defender or invader, giving each unit a chance to work with and fight against other nations at the same time.

Unlike most Earthborne nations, the navy of the European Union does not have its origins in the oceans, instead, it evolved out of its space program. The European Space Agency maintains three dreadnoughts* as well as several dozen other capital ships and hundreds of screen ships, leading it to be called a "soft power" due to the disparity between its economic power and military power. The ESA also runs and maintains countless planetary defense stations and listening outposts across the galaxy to bolster its intelligence and to defend smaller planets and planetoids long enough for reinforcements to relieve them. Overall, the European Armed forces employees over 16 million active personnel, ready to defend their civilization with their lives.

*dreadnoughts as defined by the Citadel Council

* * *

 **AN**

I want to thank you all for your patience with this chapter. I was not happy with the last chapter, so I needed to take a break from writing for a while. Though, I've seen that many of you enjoyed the last chapter, for which I'm grateful. Hopefully, I'll sort myself out and get the next chapter out on a better timetable.

I currently have several ideas of how I want to take this story, and would like the input of my readers to make my decision; would you like to see the Reapers in this story? I have a fully drawn out plan for each direction, so don't worry about that. I also won't go one way because of a vote per se, but I would like your input. You can vote in the poll on my profile.

Edit: Changed language about the EU's naval power to remove references to other nation's naval strength.


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